Don’t Assume

In his book “The Boiled Frog Syndrome”, the Canadian author, Marty Rubin writes: “Assumptions are the things we believe without thinking…”

Before we start, please note – this is by no means a political piece of writing…I’m only using the reference as an example.  On May 29, the ANC lost the electoral majority it had won in every round of voting since Mandela came to power three decades ago.

We won’t really know what is going through President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mind at the moment, but I am convinced that like so many others, he had just assumed that his party would be victorious again…

Journalist Mike Hanna confirms this in an article on News24.  Hanna spoke to the President in Soweto, five days before the election, at the final rally. “Why are you so confident the ANC is going to hold on to its majority?” he asked.

“I believe we’ve done extremely well to re-energise our people, to reinvigorate them,” the president said. “So, I feel very confident. Actually, we ARE winning, whether they like it or not, it is going to happen.”  With a loud laugh and a hug, he returned to his “walk” – waving and walking through the cheering crowds that had gathered…

I guess we were all surprised by the outcome of the election, but that’s not the point.  The point is we all make assumptions.  And when we assume, we impart our own perspective and motivations upon a situation.  Through that lens, if we’re not careful, we can distort our sense of perception and reality, which can lead to irrational decisions.  As the American writer, Isaac Asimov once said: “Your assumptions are your windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”

I recently read a Blog post where someone described this interesting phenomenon we call “assumptions” so well: “A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for dinner.  Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and then placed it into a baking pan.  The little girl asked her mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish.  Her mother thought for a while and then said: “I’ve always done it that way, that’s how grandma did it.”

Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off the fish before baking it.  Grandma thought for a while and replied, “I don’t know.  My mother always did it that way.”  So, the little girl and the grandma went to visit the great grandma to find out if she knew the answer.

Great grandma thought for a while and said, “because my baking pan was too small to fit in the whole fish…”

Each member of the family had assumed that must have been the best way to cook fish.  There was no questioning. 

We’ve all heard that we shouldn’t make assumptions, but it’s very hard not to.  We assume the best way to take on a task, we assume what will happen in our day, and we assume what people are thinking.

We are in week 5 of our amazing Winter Challenge, and yes, I am not exaggerating when I call it “amazing”.  I have promised myself that this Challenge would be the best one ever, and so far, I think we are so blessed.  Although we have hosted 26 successful Fitness Challenges over the years, I have come to realize the biggest mistake I could make, would be to assume that everyone would just join in.  More than ever, I believe, as a gym owner, one should constantly think out of the box – that’s the only way your diverse client needs can be met, and the only way to foster community. It’s also the only way to keep your members inspired and intrigued.

I think that’s the most important thing I have learned as a fitness instructor – never assume.  Never assume that a member will always keep coming back. Never assume that your workouts are popular, never assume that the members will easily master the moves, never assume that your instructors know they are appreciated, never assume that everyone loves aerobics, and never assume that there won’t be load-shedding.

In the same breath, I have also learned that, in their journeys to be healthier and fitter, our clients also sometimes fall into the trap of making assumptions – They make assumptions about what their bodies can and cannot do, and assumptions about their own limitations.  For years women have assumed that lifting weights will make them bulky – today we luckily know that building muscle doesn’t mean you’ll become bulky.

Sometimes, when I am in the company of older women who don’t exercise, I hear them say: “I’m too old to start now.”  Wrong assumption.  It’s never too late.  Lizelle Botha, whose 70^th birthday we celebrated last Sunday, reached her personal best body stats in our New Year Challenge this year, and she was one of our three overall winners!  Rita Kemp, our oldest Challenge member who turns 81 in September, executed a beautiful plank with me on stage during her recent interview…It’s never too late to improve your quality of life.  Never too late to reach new goals. 

“I’ll never be able to do that”, a new member recently said when she commented on one of our advanced step videos on social media.   I witness daily how so many women surprise themselves with what they can achieve once they push past their mental barriers.

The thing I hate most when it comes to fitness and health, is how cruel society can be in its assumptions about overweight people – “they’re lazy, they don’t care about themselves, they have health issues”…Let me tell you, there are overweight people in our studio who work their asses off.  Many of them have fantastic track records in terms of health markers.  In the same breath I have met skinny people who are on the verge of having a heart attack.

But there are also assumptions made about fit people that drive me crazy: “She’s always been so fit, so she doesn’t know how hard it is”. “Surely, Mirna, you love vegetables and never crave junk food, right?” Wrong! Fit people still have to make conscious choices daily for their healthy habits.  Fit people would rather have pizza than chicken breast and salad a lot of the time.  And fit people are often unmotivated to exercise too, believe it or not.

Albert Einstein once said: “Assumptions are made, and most assumptions are wrong.”  (If you are a Challenge member, send me this quote before 20.00 tonight, please.) Let’s remind ourselves that fitness is not about fitting into a mould or meeting someone else’s expectations.  It’s about becoming the best version of yourself.  By letting go of assumptions, you’ll open up a world of possibilities.  You’ll find that your body is capable of amazing things when you give it a chance.

Every step you take is progress, and every assumption you shutter is a victory.  So, next time someone assumes something ridiculous about you?  Give them a hug and a laugh loud, then just walk away!

Yours in fitness

Mirna
082 779 0507