A year and a half ago, I fell from the top of a 20-foot bouldering wall onto a foam mat. Immediately, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles tendon. I brushed myself off, thinking it wasn’t a big deal.
Over the next few weeks, dull pain continued in my tendon, and over the coming months, it did not get significantly better, despite lots of rest. I eventually saw an orthopedist, who suggested more rest, and wearing a boot. I didn’t wear a boot, but did do more rest.
No enchilada. The pain kept on pain-ing.
Eventually, I started to tell myself the story that I’d always have the pain, for life.
Then, I looked up some exercises and saw another doctor, and a physical therapist. The exercises were so boring! I printed them and put them on my fridge. Still, I did not do them.
Then, I enlisted Ron, a personal trainer, to help hold me accountable. During our workouts, Ron always made it a point to have me do my achilles PT exercises. After a month of doing the super-boring exercises semi-consistently with Ron’s encouragement. I began to see results. Today, after a run, I barely feel my Achilles tendon at all.
I think there’s a larger lesson in this Achilles story: my fixed mindset that I would never get better was keeping me from getting better. It’s like that old saying: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Here’s to thinking you can, and then doing the work, with help from backers.
danscreativeoulet 