Cover Image source: HULTON ARCHIVE / STRINGER / GETTY
Arnold’s story is an amazing one. If you haven’t read his biography: “Total Recall: My Unbelievable True Life Story”, add it to your list. There’s something for everyone and it’s incredibly inspiring.
Of all the things he did, here’s where I think I learned the most valuable lesson:
“I knew if I exposed only my better body parts — my arms, chest, or deltoids — all I’d get from my peers would be wonderful comments and I’d soon forget about my horrid lower legs, so I continued to wear the cutaway sweatpants that invited ego-bruising pain … and it worked. I trained them first every workout, and very often I did a few sets at the end of my workout.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger.
How often do we expose our weaknesses?
Very rarely.
I have really small legs for a man. I’ve always been ashamed of them. In fact, I was teased for it when I was younger. For a long time I would not wear shorts because of that. I didn’t want to expose them. I didn’t want to expose this weakness.
I was afraid of judgement from other people. I still am actually. Aren’t we all?
But by exposing my legs at the gym now, I am so much more motivated to work them out. It’s very hard for me. I’ve got weak legs. But at the gym, no one is judging me for it. They get it. They see that I’m working on my weakness and respect that.
I just mentioned one of my body weakness, like Arnold, but this really applies to everything, not just the body. It can be a skill you can’t pick up, a fear you have, in business, at work, anything really. I can hardly ride a bicycle. I’m afraid of heights. I’m afraid of drowning, etc.
Exposing your weaknesses is incredibly hard to do. It’s made a little easier by having more self-confidence. But, there’s a key lesson here: expose your weaknesses in the right environment.
I prefer not to expose my legs outside the gym. Out of context, people will judge me negatively for it.
Unless you have Arnold’s confidence, I suggest you do that same. Expose your weaknesses in environment where people will be more open to seeing your weakness. And gradually expand that environment.
For me, I’ve grown my legs considerably this month. They’re still really small, but less so than before. Little by little, I’m becoming less ashamed of them.
If I didn’t expose on my legs, chances are I would have worked mostly on my arms, where I have a clear strength.
So let’s all learn from Arnold!
A Little Exercise
What are your weaknesses?
How do you hide them?
How do you expose them?
What are you doing towards them?
Let’s help each other out. Feeling brave? Post in the comments. You’ll see it feels good to let it out there, in a non-judgemental environment.
You can do this!
Thanks for reading! :)