A Can of Progress

By Dr. Graham
Last updated March 4th, 2019 .First posted on by .
We start with an idea, but the details are fuzzy. We dream that we will learn to swim, or dance, or learn some specific move in some specific sport. We aspire to grow. Then, somehow, we get in our own way.

Trying the slackline
at Health & Fitness Week

We’ve all done it, we’re all guilty. We don’t even try this, that, or the next, because we are convinced we cannot possibly do whatever it is, we don’t have the speed, strength, endurance, agility, flexibility, balance, or whatever it is that is required. We experience

fear: of injury, of ridicule, or of failure.


Balancing on slackline
at Health & Fitness Week

Somehow, someone convinces or goads us into trying and, lo and behold, we discover, completely to our surprise and amazement, that we actually can do the thing in question. “I did it,” is the typical exhilarated comment.

The thing of beauty is that, once performed, the skill in question is no longer an impossibility in our mind. Rather, the ability very rapidly becomes a given, an automatic yes. We grow, from not being able to visualize ourselves doing something to being adept at seeing ourselves performing the same thing.

Progress, apparently, comes in cans.

We become more aware of the details involved, gain peripheral vision, refine the movement, and even become able to demonstrate a bit of embellishment and flourish. We start to dream of doing even more. What held us back the most was the single thought, “I can’t.” Progress, apparently, comes in cans.

You may just find that you have more in you than you thought you did, that your capabilities can expand.

 

Apparently, we set limitations upon ourselves that simply do not exist. We surprise ourselves that we can. Granted, some of the hesitation to push limits may be considered as intelligent, self-preservation, and good common safety sense. But I’m not talking about jumping the Grand Canyon. I’m simply talking about a willingness, an eagerness, to take the next step, and the next, and the next. Achievements are exhilarating, and every form of growth and improvement is an achievement.


Deadlifting more than her weight
at Health & Fitness Week

I encourage you to push the limits, safely, but nevertheless push against the edges of your performance abilities.

You may just find that you have more in you than you thought you did, that your capabilities can expand. Expect the best. Be like The Little Engine That Could.

Do your preparation, and when you know you are ready, repeat to yourself:
“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

Soon enough, that mantra will change to:
“I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.”

 


Quick Pose at Health & Fitness Week

 

 

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About Dr. Doug Graham

Dr. Douglas Graham, a lifetime athlete and raw fooder since 1978, is an advisor to world-class and motivated athletes and trainers from around the globe. He has worked professionally with top performers from almost every sport and every field of entertainment, including such notables as tennis legend Martina Navratilova, NBA pro basketball players Ronnie Grandison and Michael Porter Jr., track Olympic sprinter Doug Dickinson, pro women's soccer player Callie Withers, championship bodybuilder Kenneth G. Williams, Chicken Soup for the Soul coauthor Mark Victor Hansen, and actress Demi Moore. As owner of a fasting retreat in the Florida Keys for ten years, Dr. Graham personally supervised thousands of fasts. He was in private practice as a chiropractor for twenty years, before retiring to focus on his writing and speaking. Dr. Graham is the author of many books on health and raw food including The 80/10/10 Diet, The High Energy Diet Recipe Guide, Nutrition and Athletic Performance, Grain Damage, Prevention and Care of Athletic Injuries, and his latest, Perpetual Health 365. He has shared his strategies for success with audiences at more than 4,000 presentations worldwide. Recognized as one of the fathers of the modern raw movement, Dr. Graham is the only lecturer to have attended and given keynote presentations at all of the major raw events in the world for each of the last eight years. Dr. Graham has served on the board of governors of the International Association of Professional Natural Hygienists and the board of directors of the American Natural Hygiene Society. He is on the board of advisors of Voice for a Viable Future, Living Light Films, Vegetarian Union of North America, and EarthSave International and serves as nutrition advisor for the magazine Exercise, For Men Only. Dr. Graham is the raw foods and fitness advisor for The801010Forum.com. He taught the Health Educator program at Hippocrates Institute, served as the "source authority" for Harmonious Living, and authors a column for the magazines Get Fresh! and Vibrance (previously known as Living Nutrition). Dr. Graham is the creator of "Simply Delicious" cuisine and director of Health and Fitness Week, which provides Olympic-class training and nutrition for people of all fitness levels in beautiful settings around the world. He will inspire, motivate, educate, and entertain you like no one else in the health movement can.