Who hypnotized you to believe that?
Every now and then, it’s worth asking a very simple question, and not just asking it casually, but actually sitting with it for a moment.
When and where did I decide what I can’t do?
Not what’s genuinely impossible, that’s a completely different category. I’m talking about those quiet, almost invisible limits we place on ourselves without even noticing we’ve done it. The kind that sound reasonable, even intelligent, the kind that feel like they came from careful thinking.
You hear it all the time, and if you’re honest, you’ve probably said it yourself.
“I could never get in shape.”
“I’m too old for that now.”
“That’s just not me.”
And once those statements are made, they tend to solidify. They become policies. Not facts, not objective truths, but internal rules that we stop questioning, and then quietly live by.
I was reminded of this in a very personal way not that long ago.
Back in October of 2024, Chris Thompson pointed out that I had lost a considerable amount of muscle. He was absolutely right. I had developed sarcopenia, which is common as men age, and my muscle mass had been steadily declining. I was 71 at the time, and I could have very easily accepted that as just part of the aging process.
After all, that’s what most people do. They treat it like gravity, something that simply happens whether you like it or not.
But I made a different decision.
I shifted everything. I committed to bodyweight training, consistent muscle work, a high protein diet, creatine, cutting out excess carbs. Nothing exotic, nothing magical, just steady, disciplined application of things that we already know work when they’re actually done.
And something interesting began to happen.
Not only did I reverse the muscle loss, I went well beyond where I had ever been. Right now I’m doing about a thousand Hindu squats a week, roughly three thousand jumping jacks, and that’s on top of strength work and yoga. I’m sleeping deeply, about six and a half hours a night, waking up refreshed and energized, and feeling better than I did decades ago.
In fact, I am very likely in the best shape of my life.
And what really struck me was this.
When I was a kid, we used to get punished in gym class with things like stride jumps and jumping jacks. Fifty of them felt brutal. We’d be exhausted, complaining, completely spent, convinced we were being pushed to the limit.
So recently I got curious. I wondered what would actually happen if I just did them again, without that old story attached.
I got to 400 jumping jacks and realized there was no real point in continuing. I wasn’t even breathing hard. There was no strain, no sense of pushing through anything.
Today I did 200 Hindu squats in one set, followed by 650 jumping jacks. My heart rate went up to 116, which is essentially nothing. I never felt out of breath, never felt taxed.
And that’s when it really landed for me.
At 12 years old, I believed 50 was a lot. At 72, I can do many times that without any real effort. So the obvious question is, what actually changed?
It wasn’t my potential. That had always been there, waiting.
What changed was the boundary I had accepted without question.
And that’s the point I want you to consider this Sunday, because it applies to far more than physical fitness.
How many of your limits are real, and how many are simply decisions you made at some point, perhaps years ago, and never revisited?
Because most people don’t test these boundaries. They inherit them, they reinforce them, and then they organize their lives around them as if they were fixed and immovable.
“I could never do that.”
It sounds so final, so certain. But when you really look at it, you have to ask, says who, and based on what actual evidence?
What would happen if you quietly removed just one of those limits and acted as if it simply wasn’t there?
Not trying, because that word doesn’t help. It gives you an escape hatch.
Just acting.
Taking something you’ve written off, something you’ve assumed was beyond you, and moving toward it as if it were possible, without drama, without announcing it to the world, just doing it and seeing what happens.
You may be very surprised at what shows up when you do that.
This is where hypnosis becomes incredibly powerful, because these limits are not physical constraints. They are constructed patterns of thought, expectation, and identity that run automatically in the background.
And hypnosis gives us a direct way to interrupt those patterns, to change them at a deeper level, and to install something far more useful in their place.
A different expectation of yourself. A different sense of what is normal for you. A different level of performance that begins to feel natural rather than forced.
In other words, it allows you to remove boundaries that were never real to begin with.
So maybe this week, instead of asking what you can’t do, you ask a better question and actually take it seriously.
What have I decided I can’t do that I’ve never actually tested?
You might find there is far more available to you than you ever imagined.
- Mike Mandel
Unlock the Full Potential of Your Mind
If staying focused, communicating better, learning faster, and mastering your mind sounds appealing, the Brain Software Syndicate is the perfect next step. It’s packed with powerful tools and strategies for state management, personal transformation, and much more.
Whether the goal is to sharpen focus, eliminate mental roadblocks, or simply become more effective in daily life, Brain Software Syndicate provides the techniques to make it happen. Plus, it’s an interactive community of like-minded people who are all committed to personal growth and peak performance.
Join Brain Software Syndicate today and start using these tools to unlock your full potential.