You are in a boot camp fitness class doing hard-core intervals. Racing through the obstacles the instructor yells “30 more seconds” – what do you do? When I first arrived in New York and was teaching just such a class at Radu Physical Culture I called out that there were two kinds of people – the kind that dug deep in the last 30 seconds and went faster and the kind that knowing the time was nearly up slowed their pace and threw the last 30 seconds away. “What kind of person do you want to be?” I hollered.

Well really, there is only one type of person. Sometimes you can dig deep and push through the pain, (emotional? Physical?) sometimes you give up a little. Occasionally there is a valid reason – pushing through severe pain and injury, for example, is not a good way to go. I know this from personal experience – and I have a very wise coach to thank for helping me learn that lesson while I still had a couple of tendons and ligaments in working order! But most of the time exhaustion, stress, no-one watching and a million other small things lead to people doing less, not ever reaching their full potential.

I can’t say what kind of person you want to be, but most of us strive to be the kind of person that shows the courage, tenacity and strength to do that extra pull-up, run harder the last few moments of an interval, reach deep down inside and come up with something…more. Don’t throw those last 30 seconds away. Fight just a little harder next time you are trying to finish something off, no matter what it might be. Tell yourself “I can” – and if you aren’t sure, tell yourself, like the “Little Engine That Could” that “I think I can.”

I fought long and hard to develop the strength to pike climb a rope 30 feet in the air. The last 5 feet were always about willpower. To help myself strive for those few more pulls I sang a song in my head over and over (Bobby Darin’s Beyond the Sea – if you must know), listened to the cheers of my friends below, and counted in foreign languages. I focused on each small movement of my body, fighting through the fatigue, heart pounding and forearms burning. Beyond the Sea may not work for you, but if you find out what does you can use it everywhere in your life. You can nurture your own stamina and watch it translate to greater results both inside and outside of the gym. Life is short – don’t throw any of it away. Instead, make a conscious choice. If you need rest, rest aggressively! If you need to pamper yourself do so with all the vigor and enthusiasm you have. And when you come to the gym, the meeting, or the next hurdle tell yourself you can and leap a little higher. You might surprise yourself at what you can achieve.