How to Seize Your Full Potential by Removing Self-Imposed Limitations

This story is adapted from Better Great Than Never, by Lindsay Shoop.

Have you ever pushed yourself so hard that it made you feel like all of your teeth fell out? I know I never did. At least, not until the sport of rowing entered my life.

Imagine: when you cross the finish line, your mind is blank, your ears are ringing, your thoughts are a mess, and your senses are utterly confused. From here, all you can do is wait. Wait until time passes. Wait until you recover. Wait for whatever sensation might come next.

Almost instantly, you taste something oddly metallic on the back of your tongue. A flavor that is warm and creamy, almost sweet. As you try to figure out what it could be, the taste turns bitter, like tarnished silver and warm drool.

Then it hits you. Could it be blood? you wonder, but how?

At this point, you reason the only possible way you could be tasting blood is that your teeth have fallen out. And as a result, blood has begun to accumulate in your mouth where your teeth once were. So, as you regain use of your hands, you shakily touch your face, then run your fingers along your gums to investigate. Okay, my teeth are all here. Now what?

Having confirmed that your teeth are indeed intact, you now shift focus to your next most intense sensation. The one you feel in your feet. An unparalleled ache that throbs rhythmically to the beating of your heart.

Maybe my shoes are too tight, you think to yourself. So you rip open the Velcro closure to free your feet from your shoes, then tear off your socks for good measure. But rather than alleviating the ache, it instead develops into a tingle that feels both excruciating and numb. Preferring numb, you squeeze your feet as hard as you can, hoping that might ease your pain. But it does not. So you release your feet and simply let them dangle from your ankles like two lifeless marionettes. But again, this does not help.

In one final attempt to cure your discomfort, you plunge your feet into the chilly water below, hoping cold immersion will help. At last…your pain begins to wane, and you can finally appreciate your newfound level of determination.

Maybe this is what it means to want something so badly you can taste it. That a desire is so strong that it takes on a distinct flavor. I used to think this was just an exaggerated expression. But once I began pursuing my best me through the sport of rowing, I understood it.

Let me assure you, I did not have anywhere near that level of determination when I started down my Olympic path. Quite the opposite. I was awkward and self-conscious. I had insecurities and fears. And even though others saw potential in me, I did not believe I was good enough to amount to much athletically beyond high school. Ultimately, on account of my self-imposed limits, I chose to walk away from sports altogether. Because I did, on the day I finally decided to take up the sport of rowing, I was, by national standards, unfit and overweight.

So no, this is not the story of the Olympic champion who picked up and specialized in her sport with her Olympic dream in mind from a young age. This is instead the story of the Olympic champion whose life first wandered in many directions. Not one of which was toward what allowed me to become my best. Until one day, a stranger reached out and presented an opportunity to try something new. What he presented was only an opportunity though. The decisions, actions, and effort from there were up to me.

My decision to embrace that opportunity by taking on something new, intimidating, and completely uncertain, that was my first step. It was a step I took because, even though I did not know where I could go, I knew I did not want to stay where I was. That step, one that seemed trivial at the time, turned out to be the first of many steps. Many patient, successive steps that grew into tiny confidences. Those small reassurances that showed gradual progress and so encouraged me to discover new things every day. Perhaps most importantly, they were steps taken with friends, family, teammates, and coaches who challenged me throughout the process.

It was with every step I took, challenge I faced, and decision I made to not back down, no matter the circumstances, that my determination grew and eventually gave way to a dream. A dream that gradually transformed from idea into reality on the day my teammates and I raced for gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. An event so significant that they remain the most watched Games of all time.

On Sunday, August 17, 2008, my eight teammates and I pushed into the lead within the first minute of the race. From there, we never gave it up. By the time we crossed the finish line, just over six minutes later, we were the first team to bring home Olympic gold for the United States in women’s rowing, in any event, over the full 2,000-meter race distance (an accomplishment for which they deemed us worthy for induction into the National Rowing Hall of Fame).

Of the few Americans who have won Olympic gold in women’s rowing, I was one of the smallest physically and picked up the sport at the latest point in life. Once I picked it up though and took on gradually greater challenges, I went from being overweight and doubtful to accomplishing something that less than 0.000005 percent of the world’s population might ever do.

So when I say that it is never too late to change the way we perceive ourselves, to remove our self-imposed limits, to make the decision to pursue our greatest (or simply better) selves one day at a time, one step at a time, I am certain it is true. So dare to change your mind. Dare to take action. Then stay patient, positive, and determined. For make no mistake, the process of becoming your best, of being proud of the person you can become every day, is a gradual one. One filled with unexpected challenges that can, at times, make every step feel like the first.

To learn more about how to seize your full potential by removing self-imposed limitations, you can find Better Great Than Never on Amazon.

Lindsay Shoop is a coach, author, speaker, and lifelong athlete. She is an Olympic gold medalist, a three-time World Champion, and a National Rowing Hall of Fame inductee.

With a focus on performance optimization and longevity throughout sport and life, Lindsay hosts clinics for coaches, athletes, and teams of all ages and skill levels. She is a commentator for USRowing and a speaker for events at major universities and corporations.

Lindsay lives in Florida, where she daily seeks to mentor, inspire, and improve the lives of others by sharing her journey of self-discovery from ultimate defeat, to Olympic gold.