Ronan Oliveira challenges the common belief that fitness is reserved for people 'born' athletic. Using his personal story and observations, he explains how that limiting identity leads to self-abandonment and offers a four-step process (acknowledge duration, thank the belief, reframe in past tense, take action) to change identity, build habits, and reclaim health as a form of self-care.
Chapters
There is one unconscious belief that makes most people struggle with their bodies. You know, a few years ago, I won a fitness competition. It was a race, an obstacle race. There were 11,000 people running and got first place. So I called my friends to celebrate. And then a high school friend told me, he said this said, Ronan, I wish I was born with a body like yours, but I was not the sports kid. That's cool. Today I can't even do a push up. That's it. I'm gonna be the fat uncle. Have you ever thought anything like this? Have you ever seen anyone fit and wish that you were born with a body like theirs? Because if you have, then watch this whole video because I think you may be making a mistake, that if you reverse it, you may even change your life. There's this belief that fitness is for these sports kit, that you either born with a body that is for fitness or you don't. And then there's a chain reaction here because if you don't have a body that is made for fitness, then fitness activities are not made for you. So you dislike exercise, you eat junk food as a statement, you pull all nighters, you lose care and at some point your body starts to decay. Because if your body is not expanding, it's decaying. There is no maintaining in a dynamic system. And so you start to gain weight and then there's pain here and there and then there's lack of the physical capabilities. And at some point you start feeling bad about yourself. And the longer it passes, the harder it gets to get engaged with your body. At some point it becomes self abandonment and even other areas of your life may be doing super well, but your body becomes a taboo. Is this what's supposed to happen to all the kids who are not the sports kid? I don't think so. This belief is not true. Let me ask you this, have you never met someone who was the intellectual type? But now they are active and they are strong and fit and they look good and feel great or even this. Where are all these sports kids at school right now? Are they all super fit and healthy and happy? You know, I was not the sports kid. For example. I was a mix between the intellectual and the artistic type. In fact, I got bullied at school because of the lack of physical capabilities. And I wanted to be like the sports kids, the ones that are good at football because they didn't get slaps in their heads when they were walking around. But I was skinny and short and so I had the belief that I was born in a Weak body and then engaging with exercise, it was just bad. You can imagine you feel inferior every time that you do it. But today I think how unfair it is to look at your own body and say, I wish you were like the others. You know, a lot of us hear this from other people already. You can be the person who breaks this pattern for yourself. It's all about self identity. This whole fitness game is about getting a methodology that works, that is effective and doing this for long enough. It's easy. What is hard is to let go of this self hypnosis that made you believe that it is not available for you. So the next time that you have this type of thought, I want you to do four things. Number one, ask yourself for how long you've been holding this belief, for how long have you been unsatisfied with your body, with your health, with your fitness. And it's all because of this belief. The number two, say thank you to it. You know, because if this belief is there for long enough, there is a reason for this. It served you in a way. So identify how it was helpful to you so far and say thank you to it because this is the only way that you can let this go. Then number three, reframe this thought. You know, if there is a thought that you are weak, first put this in the past sentence, in the past tense and say that you used your body used to be weak. And then reframe that. You know, if the push up, you know, let's take the push up example for the, for the sake of the, the example. Maybe, you know, my body used to be weak. Maybe I cannot still do a push up, but I am not weak. I am a person who honors and cares about my body. I train my body while respecting its limits. And I know that the more I do so, I expand my strength and my capabilities. And then number four, take action on it. Get yourself an exercise routine and start doing it. Or get an easier version of a push up and start practicing this every day in your morning routine until eventually you can do a full push up. And then you show yourself that you're going towards the person who you want to become. It's not only about food and exercise. It's a lot about self identity. Have you seen anyone who appreciates and honors their body giving up on their health? But I get it. You know, if you're used to get crap feelings from other people because of your lack of physical capabilities, it's very hard to remember that you live inside a walking miracle. But in the same way that your mind has the power to learn, your body has the power to transform. So today I don't want to ask you to click on any masterclass or any link like that. I just wanted to share a message. It hoping that it serves you in the same way that it served me. Sometimes fitness is not only about performance, but it's more about a practice of self care. So share this message with anyone that you think would appreciate hearing this and I see you next week.
