I used to think I wasn’t a runner.
But a friend started doing run to walk intervals and was loving it, so it inspired me to give it a try.
Instead of thinking, “Can I do this?” I started asking, “What if I just see how far I can go?”
That small mindset shift and letting go of the belief that I couldn’t do it, changed my life.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
So many of us live with quiet, unquestioned beliefs about what we’re capable of.
We say:
- “I’m not athletic.”
- “I’m just not a runner.”
- “That’s not something I can do.”
Sometimes those thoughts come from past experiences or failures. Sometimes we inherited them from someone else. But either way, they stick—and they quietly shape what we’re willing to try.
For a long time, I let those kinds of thoughts hold me back. I didn’t question them. I just accepted them as fact.
The Power of One Small Shift
When I stopped treating those thoughts as truth and started getting curious instead, everything began to change.
When it came to running, it took me weeks to be able to run for more than 3 minutes straight but I go there. Then I just slowly added on. Some runs were really crappy, but I was still able to slowly add (sometimes only 30 seconds at a time) so I just kept going.
Eventually, those minutes turned into miles and too many races to count now. I hit my biggest distance (to date) of 50 miles in October of 2024, over 15 years after I gave up the belief that I wasn’t a runner.
What Running Taught Me About Everything Else
Running gave me more than endurance. It gave me confidence.
Each time I pushed past a limit I thought was real, I proved to myself that I was more capable than I believed.
And that spilled into the rest of my life.
I started showing up differently. Taking more risks. Saying yes to things that once would’ve terrified me—like sharing my story publicly, starting a business, or leading others through their own health journeys.
None of that happened overnight. But it started with letting go of the belief that I had to stay small.
What Are You Telling Yourself?
We all have stories we carry—about who we are, what we can do, and what we think we’re not made for. But those stories aren’t always true.
If you’ve been holding onto a limiting belief about your body, your health, or your potential, I want to challenge you to rewrite it.
Ask yourself: What if I can? What if I’m more capable than I think?
That’s where change starts—not with perfection or giant leaps, but with a mindset shift. One that opens the door to possibility.
Keep Following the Series + Go Deeper With Your Mindset
This month on the blog, I’m sharing the mindset shifts that helped me transform not just my habits, but my identity.
The first post was about letting go of food guilt and changing up my outlook on my eating. This one is about pushing past limiting beliefs. And there’s more to come.
👉 Want to take it even deeper?
Check out my course: “You Don’t Need a New Diet—You Need a New Mindset.”
It’s designed to help you break out of the all-or-nothing cycle, create a healthier relationship with food, and build lasting change—without relying on willpower or starting over every Monday.You’ll learn how to reframe your thinking, ditch perfectionism, and finally trust yourself to stay consistent—even when life gets messy.
