Are you an athlete?
I say it in every single class. If you have a body, you are an athlete. I do not say it to hype people up. I say it because it is true and because most people have spent years believing the opposite.
What Is an Athlete, Actually
Merriam-Webster defines an athlete as "a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."
It does not say professional. It does not say competitive. It does not say someone who gets paid.
Kristen Dieffenbach, an associate professor of athletic coaching education at West Virginia University and a sports psychology consultant, put it this way: "Everyone should think of themselves as athletes. It is not reserved for people who get a paycheck from it." She said she is surprised how many people are reluctant to embrace that identity. That they are actually devaluing what they do, even when they love physical activity.
If you show up and move your body, you are an athlete. Full stop.
The Stereotype Problem
Here is where it gets personal. Back in grade school, there were two groups. The kids who got labeled athletes and the kids who got labeled non-athletic. And if you landed in that second group, a lot of you carried that label for years. Decades, even.
I played sports. I played at a high level. I went through everything that comes with competitive athletics and I learned a lot from it. I am not taking anything away from people who compete.
What I am saying is that those old labels were wrong. They were put on you by other people when you were a kid. They do not define what you are capable of now.
Getting up every day and choosing to move. Pushing yourself past what was comfortable last month. Building strength and endurance over time. That is an athlete. That has always been an athlete.
Why It Actually Matters What You Call Yourself
This is not just motivational talk. The identity you carry changes the decisions you make.
When you think of yourself as an athlete, you train like one. You recover like one. You fuel your body with what it needs, not just what it wants. You finish what you start. You show up even on the days you do not feel like it.
When you think of yourself as someone who "just works out sometimes," your standards drop. You skip more. You quit sets early. You eat like someone who does not have goals.
The word matters. Use it.
The Challenge
Here is what I want from you. Everything you do, you do it at 110%. You finish everything you start. You get your body in the best shape of your life. You fuel your body with what it needs. You win the year, the month, the week, the day, the hour. You win every step you take and every rep you complete.
Your abilities are not limited by what someone told you in fifth grade. They are not limited by where you are starting from right now. The only thing that limits you is whether or not you decide to show up.
You are an athlete. Now go act like it.
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