I despise the word can’t. I think it comes from a place of lack and sets us up for failure.

If you think back to when you were young, there was nothing you thought you couldn’t do— be a firefighter, astronaut, teacher, pilot—you name it, you thought you could do it all. Why? Because there was no inner voice telling you that you couldn’t. So what happened? Reality in the form of outside sources set in and you decided that your potential was limited instead of limitless.

In 2012 I decided, after a few years of feeling unfulfilled, to put this to the test. I made the decision to leave my career as a teacher, in pursuit of something ‘new’. Well, not entirely new since I had been training myself and others since I was a teen, but new in the sense of turning ‘it’– personal training– into a full-time career. I was of course, scared, apprehensive, reluctant… you name it. But I realized in order for growth to take place, change was imminent.

The fact of the matter is that as we get older, we start to give in to that little voice in our head that tell us that we can’t or that we aren’t able to do things. How does this relate to fitness? Well…it’s the idea that when you put your mind to something, even if that something seems unattainable at first, you can always achieve it.

Take for instance James Lawrence. In 2012, 36-year old James Lawrence from Alberta, broke the world record for the most iron distance races completed in one year: a mind boggling 30. In his quest to achieve what many thought was impossible, Lawrence swam the distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles, biked 112 miles which is equivalent to 180 km, and ran the span of the United States. He averaged just under 12 hours for all 30 events, and raced in 11 countries.

Why is this relevant? Well, because James Lawrence by his own admission, isn’t a natural born athlete with higher capabilities than the average person. He’s just someone that believed in his own potential.

How can this help you? Choose to eliminate self-defeating words and thoughts from both your mind and vocabulary. Opt for higher vibrational words like, success, achievement or intention. This shift can change not only the way you see yourself but the world as it unfolds around you.

Repeat these words to yourself everyday: There Is Nothing That You Cannot Be, Do or Have.