I'm aware this is not a good look for me, but I'm going with it for illustration purposes
On Monday I had the unique opportunity to go through a jiujitsu gauntlet. Any time you get a new belt at my gym, Maverick Training Center, you do one.
It consists of you fighting everyone in the class starting at the black belts and working all the way down to the white belts. Then you go back through all the upper belts. Everyone gets 2 minutes the first time and then 1 minute the second time around.
Sound like fun?
This may sound strange, but part of it actually was pretty fun. A few different times I heard people yelling, "Why is he smiling??? Don't let him smile!" And that made me smile even more, even if it made there person I was going with at the time go even harder.
Along the way, my nose was broken, got a black eye, and my ribs are killing me. So the question I get from my wife (and mom) a lot is "Why do you do this?" No man in his 40's should be walking around with a black eye from fighting.
I believe in doing hard things. I believe in being tested. I believe the times we are living in make everything too easy for us. I believe we are meant to do things that we don't think we can do. And I believe it leads to greater self esteem and self worth.
No one can give you self esteem, it is only earned. If you are a parent, then you know this better than anyone. Your child has to go through hard times, overcome challenges, and learn to stand on their own two feet. When you help them avoid that or do those things for them, they never grow to their potential.
So my advice to you is 3 simple words: Do. Hard. Things.
It definitely doesn't have to be breaking your nose related. It could be something like climbing a mountain, running a marathon, adopting a child, or starting a business.
Or it could be doing one of the hardest things there is out there. Starting over in your workout program. It is so depressing and defeating to start back exercising after you have not worked out in a long time. Especially if you were in great shape before!
If you are feeling "less than" right now, commit to doing something hard. Prove to yourself that are you are stronger than you think. I really like this quote/mantra from Abby Ruby:
