Trust Yourself: What I am Learning About Strength from My Personal Trainer

For years, I believed strength came from pushing harder.

I was taught at my Ivy League College, in medical school and in residency that more effort, sacrifice, discipline, and pain were “strength.”

But working with an incredible personal trainer over the last three months has taught me something different—something much better.

Strength isn’t just about power. It’s about trust.

For physicians, trusting ourselves is one of the hardest things to do.

We were trained not to trust ourselves. We were taught to rely on data, guidelines, and external validation rather than our own intuition.

We learned to override exhaustion, ignore hunger, and push through pain.

We treated our own bodies as an afterthought, something to manage later.

The result, many of us don’t just struggle to trust our instincts—we don’t trust our bodies either.

Rebuilding that trust takes a lot of work.

Both mindset coaching and physical practices.

It takes relearning how to listen and practicing trust in places we never thought to—like our hamstrings, our breath, or the stability of our own legs.

Subtle is Significant

The smallest adjustments—where you place your feet, how you engage your core, the way you breathe— shifts everything.

Stabilizing happens in micromovements, in the muscles you don’t even realize are working.

The big, dramatic movements get attention, but the real magic is in the details.

This is the same in mindset and thoughtwork.

Nonjudgment Changes Everything

As physicians, we’re trained to analyze, critique, and fix. When we bring that same judgment to our bodies, we hold tension before we even begin.

“I should be stronger. I should be able to do more.” But what if there is no should?

What if every effort—every wobble, every moment of struggle—is exactly right for where you are?

It’s actually the whole point.

When You Feel Stronger, You Show Up More Confident

Confidence doesn’t just come from your mind; it comes from your body. Feeling strong physically makes you move through the world differently. You stand taller. You take up space. You trust yourself more in every aspect of life.

A Healthier Body Leads to a Healthier Everything

It’s never just about muscles, endurance, better function, or even lack of pain.

When your body feels good, your mind feels clearer, your emotions more balanced.

You make more aligned choices.

Strength isn’t just about lifting weights—in fact I haven’t lifted a single weight yet.

When you feel healthier, you lift up your whole life.

Pushing is Not the Answer

We think growth comes from pushing past pain, sacrificing, and doing “the hard”

What if it comes from listening instead?

Forcing things leads to burnout, injury, and depletion.

Strength comes from working with your body, not against it.

Adequate Rest Leads to More Impact

Recovery isn’t lazy—it’s where strength is built.

My trainer reminds me to actually rest (and breathe) when I take a break. This is not my default. And it’s likely not yours.

If you don’t let your muscles rest, they can’t restore nd grow.

The same is true for your mind, your heart, your life.

Be Deliberate

Mindless movement leads to frustration and injury.

But when you move with intention—when you feel your body and engage fully—every action has meaning.

The same is true off the mat, outside the gym.

Small, deliberate choices lead to bigger transformations than mindless striving ever will.

Keep Your Head Out of It—Relearn to Trust Your Body

Physicians live in their heads. We analyze, overthink, and intellectualize everything—including movement.

Our bodies actually know what to do.

Overthinking, doubting, second-guessing? That’s where we get stuck.

When I was learning to squat, my trainer told me to “trust my hamstrings.”

I had to let go and allow my body to do what it was built for.

I do this with ease in balancing poses in yoga. I trust my legs to hold me rather than gripping and tensing.

What is different with squats?

It’s unfamiliar. And unfamiliar for those of us in doctors is a high- alert trigger..

Trusting your body and yourself takes practice.

Once you do, everything changes.

We Resist What’s Uncomfortable and Unfamiliar

The first instinct is to avoid what’s new.

A movement that feels strange, an exercise that feels awkward. But growth is always in the unfamiliar. Strength comes from staying with it, from learning to trust what’s different.

Not Right vs. Wrong—Just More Effective

There isn’t one “right” way. What works for one body may not work for another. It’s about finding what’s most effective for you. A slight tweak in alignment, a shift in focus, and suddenly everything feels easier, more powerful.

Personalize It for Your Body

Form matters. Technique matters. But your body is different from everyone else’s. You don’t have to force yourself into someone else’s version of strength. You get to create your own.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Torture

We equate working out with suffering. But strength doesn’t have to mean exhaustion, nausea, or pain. It can feel good. It can be energizing, freeing, empowering. The same is true for all the things we push ourselves through—what if there’s a better way?

You Are Stronger When You Get Help

Investing in yourself is hard.

Asking for guidance, even harder.

Having a trainer—someone to notice what I couldn’t see, to guide me in ways I didn’t know I needed—took me to a whole new level.

This is the same with mindset coaching.

It’s Hard to Be Someone Who Invests in Herself

Especially as a physician—we are conditioned to put others first.
We’re taught to ration time, money, and energy, often believing that investing in ourselves is indulgent or selfish.

But the truth is, investing in yourself is what allows you to show up better for everyone else.

And it goes beyond just your body.

For most of us, the real work starts in our minds. If you’re operating from a scarcity mindset, it’s hard to be willing to invest in your health. You might tell yourself:

• I don’t have time for this.

• I don’t deserve this.

• It’s not practical to spend money on myself.

But here’s the thing—your set points in life are shaped by your thoughts first.

If you don’t believe you’re worthy of rest, you won’t allow yourself to take it.
If you don’t believe you can be strong, you won’t push past your own limits.
If you don’t believe you can thrive, you’ll stay stuck in survival mode.

This is where the real work happens.

Just like I needed a trainer to help me strengthen my body, most of us need coaching to strengthen our minds—to help us break free from the patterns that keep us stuck in overwork, exhaustion, and self-neglect.

Investing in Yourself Changes Everything

Your health—physical, mental, and emotional—isn’t a luxury.

It’s the foundation for everything else in your life.

When you take care of yourself, everything around you shifts.

If you’re ready to step out of scarcity and into possibility, let’s work together.

Coaching and mindful movement are how you reset your set points—not just for your body, but for your life.

Trusting yourself starts with investing in yourself.