5 Confidence Lessons From the Gym

Benson Wong found himself having to go to the gym to help with his back pain. And not only did he get rid of the pain, he also gained confidence. 5 Confidence Lessons You Can Learn at the Gym I started going to the gym out of necessity. I had been in constant pain for almost six months. I had been to numerous doctors who could not figure out what was wrong with me and why my lower back and legs were constantly hurting. Every specialist gave the same advice: I needed to start an exercise program. Little did I know how much it would affect my self-confidence… But at first, I didn’t like the idea at all. I thought it was ridiculous to force someone who was already in pain to do exercises. But I still signed up for the gym. The first week was like hell. I was sweating after just a few minutes on the treadmill, while the person running next to me was just breathing a little harder after half an hour. After the workout, my whole body hurt even more than my back. Sometimes, to feel better, you have to endure it. But after two weeks of training, I really started to feel better. And now, for 3 years, I have been going to the gym regularly: it helps relieve pain and tension. And today I want to share the lessons I have learned from my experience of working out. 1. You will learn to make important decisions You must decide for yourself that you are ready to endure something unpleasant before what you want to achieve happens. My decision to work out at the gym was selfish. I was tired of pain and wanted to feel better. And once I made my decision, I became more confident. When you understand what goal you want to achieve, making the right choice is much easier. 2. You will start to feel better about yourself and understand where to go from here Self-confidence is the ability to truly trust yourself and pay minimal attention to what others think. I started lifting weights from scratch. I was out of shape and in pain. My goal was simple: I would slowly improve, following the advice of the trainers. So when I approached the weight machine, there was not a single kilo on it. The first thing I thought about was how to get in shape. Of course, I also thought about how people probably looked at me funny when I “lifted weights” with no weights at all. But I didn’t care. Self-confidence If someone laughed at me, I felt nothing but sympathy for them. I knew why I was lifting weights: to become stronger and healthier. This meant that I had to start from the bottom and pave my own way. I learned to live at my own pace and my own life. I started to develop my internal compass by realizing that I didn’t care what other people thought. I know it can be awkward to be in a gym with so many people in great shape. But over time, you’ll realize that it doesn’t really matter whether they’re looking at you or not. You’ll also learn that many of them are the kindest people. I remember being scared to ask for help with a machine. I shouldn’t have been. Working out teaches you to deal with people who seem so confident. And by interacting with them, you become more confident yourself. Soon you’ll be a confident, fit person who will seem intimidating to another newbie. Be friendly and remember where you came from, just like everyone else who came before you. 3. You’ll Learn Gratitude Good health is a gift. Losing it is scary. Anyone who finds themselves in a situation similar to mine understands this and is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve that gift. Every day that I’m pain-free, I feel grateful. Every time I go to the gym and feel pleasantly tired afterwards, I am grateful for a great workout and time well spent. With gratitude for my health comes the desire to take action to preserve it. That means working out 3 times a week, 52 weeks a year. 4. You will learn to be organized A good resolution that you stick to for a few months will teach you a lot about discipline. It usually takes about a month for something to become a habit. I applied the same principle when I started keeping a gratitude list. Three times a day, I sit down and spend 5 minutes writing down about 5 things I am grateful for. Those 5 minutes force me to think about the future and where I want to be. This gives me confidence in myself and motivates me to take daily action to achieve my goals. 5. You will move slowly and consciously. Usually, muscular people move more slowly, and there is a reason for this: when lifting weights, they consciously tense and relax the muscles they want to develop. When you move slowly, you are less likely to get injured, especially if you are working with heavy weights. One wrong move can lead to a serious injury that will bother you for weeks. When we think of a fussy, impulsive person, we do not imagine him to be self-confident: he moves without a goal and tries to be everywhere. When you imagine a leisurely person, you think about him having a backbone, he knows where and why he is going. When you play sports, your body becomes stronger, more receptive to stress and more resistant to diseases. But most importantly, you learn to believe in yourself, to look at life differently, a desire to develop yourself as a person appears. Thanks to training in the gym, you will be able to see yourself from a new side.