Breaking Stereotypes

Far too often, people are pigeon holed into stereotypes. This can be observed from grade school all the way up until old age. Early in our lives, we're exposed and indoctrinated into believing the stereotypes told to us by our parents, teachers, and friends. They can be common stereotypes that we find thrown around constantly in our life or smaller, less recognized stereotypes. If you've been called the dumb kid, the meathead, the geek, the weirdo, or the bad boy for any significant amount of time, I assure you that you've picked up some of these traits associated with the stereotype either consciously or subconsciously.

Stereotyping

All throughout my life, people have tried to stereotype me without success. I've always been interested in things that most people would tell you are complete opposites. For instance, as I grew up, video games were always a large part of my life. To this day, I still consider myself an avid gamer, but I never wanted to look like one. Who wants to be skinny or fat with acne and have no success with the ladies? So consequently, I've become extremely passionate about physical performance. I started with bodybuilding, competed in gymnastics and powerlifting, and developed myself as a coach. At the beginning of this transformation, I began to realize that I was headed down the path of becoming the “meathead,” so I made certain to become cultured and well read to communicate my intelligence.

Not the Norm

With my new found passion with regards to training and coaching came other necessitated interests such as becoming a proficient cook to maintain an enjoyable and healthy diet and be able to manipulate it to achieve my aesthetic goals. This, in turn, led me down a path of being straightedge for a number of years to live what I thought at the time was the ideal lifestyle. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, generally people who claim to be straightedge abstain from most forms of drugs and promiscuous sex. On top of this, training fueled my deep seated love for heavy and passionate music and it served as an invaluable outlet for me. Because of all my different attributes, my dad often joked with me that I was the “cooking, weightlifting, gaming, metal headed gymnast.” I've made a point to do all the activities I love, but I don't get sucked into some of the negative things associated with them. The focus has always been on pushing myself to be the person I want to be rather than becoming a stereotype.

This isn’t to say that everything about being part of a stereotype is bad. If you're gratified and always strived to be the “meathead” or the “geek” and that’s how most people would describe you, you can continue on living your content lifestyle. But if we have anything in common, the next time you look into the mirror, I challenge you to look deep down and answer whether or not you're living a stereotype. If you come to the conclusion that this might be the case and you determine that you are in fact the meathead, spend some time reading books on topics you find interesting but normally wouldn't take the time to learn about. If you're indeed the geek, spend some time playing a new sport or get started on a strength training program at your local gym. Begin taking the steps you need to become an individual, not another typical and uninspired drone.

You Can Change It

No matter what stereotype you think you fit into, if you notice something about yourself that isn't consistent with your morals or how you would like people to perceive you, change it! This may seem obvious to some of you, but all too often we hear about friends and family tolerating negative things about themselves because they have a bunch of excuses and a lack of drive or motivation. They live in their own stereotype whether they admit it or not.

Helping people get past these types of issues is my greatest passion in life. I thrive on coaching and inspiring people to become what they've always wanted to be. Life is too short to be forced into living a life that anyone but you created. So the question becomes, "Are you willing to be the type of person who breaks your own stereotypes?"