It was a lot like stepping on a Lego, but so much more painful. It doesn’t matter how tough you are, an ill placed Lego is crippling.

The pain was in my hip and I was miserable. Anything faster than a walk was excruciating. It seemed to come out of nowhere and was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

It had started out like any other trip to the track for PE. I was excited to prove, yet again, that I was one of the fastest kids in my class. But something different happened.

I was left in the dust. Literally. As the entire class sped by me, they kicked up a big cloud of dust from the dirt track. Thanks to this sudden and mysterious hip pain, I could hardly even hobble.

Something was wrong.

What The Experts Told Me

After seeing several doctors and specialists I learned what the issue was. I had a structural problem due to my flat feet, and would suffer from chronic pain in my hips, knees, and lower back. Because of this, they also told me that I would never be able to lift weights. There were some treatments—like wearing custom orthotics, which I do daily. These could help, but they were nothing that would fix the problem.

My fate seemed determined. I mean, they were experts and they said I would never be able to lift heavy things. So I didn’t. In fact, I hardly exercised at all because of what they told me.

What I didn’t realize is that experts aren’t always right.

Testing the Weightlifting Water

During high school I had a weightlifting class and I cautiously lifted weights for the first time. I loved it. And my hips, knees, and lower back didn’t hurt like I expected—or at all.

After I finished the class, I started going to a gym. Of course when I say, “going to a gym,” I mean my friends and I would bench press and do curls. Regardless of the lack of variety, I loved lifting weights. But I was always tentative about going heavy because of what the experts told me.

At that point, light lifting hadn’t led to any major injury and I didn’t want to press my luck by going heavy.

But my strength, size, and progress reflected my beliefs—I couldn’t lift heavy.

My lifting buddy, on the other hand, was killing it. We always went to the gym together. We always did the same lifts. But he was stronger, leaner, and always progressed. He fearlessly added weights to the bar each week. Meanwhile, I felt like I was back on the dirt track—left in the dust.

It was pretty depressing.

What little progress I had made was overshadowed by my discouragement and disappointment.

I felt defeated.

Even though I enjoyed weightlifting, the writing was on the wall seemed clear… I was not cut out for lifting heavy, building muscle, or getting strong.

The Primal Man-Rage

I was just about ready to completely give up weightlifting.

Then I went to the gym angry.

Not irked, but livid with a primal man rage. It was college and my girlfriend at the time cheated on me. I was devastated. I mean I went to the wildly conservative Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. A place that has dominated the #1 spot on the Princeton Review’s Stone-cold Sober list for schools—holding the title every year since The Princeton Review introduced the category in 1997; a place where students willingly  sign a code of conduct that doesn’t allow guys to grow beards or girls to wear sleeveless shirts; and a place where NCMO (pronounced nick-mo) is common in the vernacular—it means Non-Committal Make Out and is generally frowned upon.

A cheating girlfriend is the last thing you’d expect at BYU.

I was in a punch-holes-in-the-walls-of-my-dorm type of mood. But considering that would have come out of my deposit I took my anger out on gravity at the gym.

It sounds strange, but it was exactly what I needed.

For the first time I didn’t hold anything back. Unlike every other time I lifted, I didn’t baby my knees, hips, and lower back. Instead, I attacked the bar.

My headphones were in, my music was blaring, and I had one focus: lifting big. My frustration and anger—forget that. My lack of strength—forget that. My flat feet and what the experts told me I couldn’t do—forget that, too.

I set personal records on every single lift that day. It was thrilling. But the best part was that I felt great. There was no joint or back pain. Could the experts be wrong? (Spoiler alert: yes).

That anger-born focus and determination to dominate the weight became a staple for me in the gym. I started lifting heavier and heavier, and I finally saw my strength as untapped potential instead of a limitation.

How They Were Wrong

Now I’ve lifted heavy for years. And I’m yet to come across any unusual pain because of my flat feet and structural issues. The bleak future of chronic pain that the experts prepared me for simply isn’t a reality.

They told me that I’d never be able to lift weights. But I look forward to lifting heavy things at least 3 or 4 days a week and work hard to keep getting stronger.

They prepared me for chronic pain. But I enjoy life without any nagging injuries.

My feet are still flat.

My structural problems didn’t magically disappear. For years I’ve done what I can to help myself out—like wearing those orthotics every day. Thanks to that, things have improved.

Are they perfect? No. But things don’t have to be perfect to be possible.

I can, in fact, lift.

And it’s changed my life. I attribute my career, health, strength, and confidence heavy lifting. But it isn’t because of the bars and plates, or the cables and weights. It’s because I realized that sometimes even the experts are wrong.

Nike knows what they’re talking about. Seriously, impossible is nothing. Regardless of what people say—even experts—you are in control of your future.

Your Turn

What have “experts” told you that might be holding you back?

What can you start doing today to prove the experts wrong?

Go and do it. Shoot, tell me how it goes. Tweet at me with #provethemwrong or drop me an email.

There’s nothing you can’t do. No dream is too big. Believe in yourself, work hard, and prove them wrong.

“Put all excuses aside and remember this: YOU are capable.”

– Zig Ziglar