Nobody’s Coming - Believe Anyway
I didn’t grow up in England. I was born here, but for 18 years I was raised in Oman. When I moved back to the UK a couple years ago, everything felt off. New place. New rules. New silences. It wasn’t “adventure energy” it was a knot in my throat that never loosened.
I drifted into social anxiety so heavy it changed how I moved. I stopped saying yes to things. I stopped meeting people. I let discomfort own me. That isolation bled into my habits - sleep got messy, meals got impulsive (either barely anything or way too much) and my self-belief slipped from the driver’s seat to the boot.
But through all of it, there was one constant: the gym. Not perfect training. Not perfect nutrition. Just… showing up.
That consistency saved me. Because every time I finished a session I didn’t want to start, I proved, quietly to myself, that I could do hard things. Not for a PB or approval. For me. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was proof. And proof compounds.
Today I’m 22 days out from my first bodybuilding show. And the confidence I carry now didn’t appear because life suddenly decided to work in my favour. It appeared because I didn’t quit on myself when it would’ve been easy. If that isn’t you yet, it can be!
The Perspective Shift That Changed Everything
You find what you’re looking for.
If you hunt for reasons to be miserable, you’ll drown in them. If you hunt for reasons to be grateful, they’re there too. That’s not “toxic positivity.” It’s responsibility. I stopped outsourcing my mood to the actions of others, to the pixels on the screen and started curating what I consume and what I do.
On my worst days now, I pull two levers:
Humility: I remember I’m one person on a planet that spins without me. Most of what I stress about won’t matter in a week.
Ownership: If it’s in my life, I had a hand in it. That’s not blame - it’s power. If it’s mine, I can move it.
When you live there, between humility and ownership - you stop waiting to be saved.
“Delusional” Belief (The Useful Kind)
There’s a version of belief people laugh at - until it works. The filmmaker who eats a decade of “no” before their first “yes.” The person doing content who looks ridiculous… right up until they don’t.
Call it delusion if you like. I call it insurance. It protects you long enough to develop the skill that makes your belief sane in hindsight. I had to borrow that energy when anxiety was loud: “I’m going to figure this out.” Not today. Not tomorrow. But eventually-because I will still be here.
That’s the game. Stay long enough to meet the moment that needed you to stay.
What Actually Helped (No Fluff)
These aren’t magic. They’re just the levers I pulled until things moved.
1) One non-negotiable, every day
For me it was training, but for you it could be making your bed in the morning or reading for 1 hour.
If I was shattered, I walked. If I was stacked with work, I did 30 minutes in the gym and left. The rule was show up, scale down if needed, but show up. Momentum > motivation.
2) A ruthless content diet
Follow accounts that feed you, mute anything that provides resistance to your path forward. Curate your inputs like your macros. Your headspace is a habitat - protect it.
3) Borrow belief until you build your own
Learn from people you trust - books, podcasts, mentors, conversations. Borrow their belief until you’ve built your own.
4) Social reps (for the socially anxious gang out there)
I treated conversations like sets (obsessed with with gym, what else can i say). Clean form, more reps. A 15 minute coffee with one person. Attending a class. A message to someone I’d not spoken to for months. Every “rep” made the next one less scary.
If You’re At Rock Bottom
You are not broken. You are under recovered from life. The plan isn’t fireworks; it’s bricks.
Pick one anchor: steps, a 30 minute lift, prepping two meals.
Do it daily for 14 days - no heroics, just consistency.
Track one proof you did it (notes app, old school calendar, whatever you find most convenient).
Add one small layer when you’re ready. Yet the sooner, the better (earlier bedtime, 10 minutes of mobility, a walk after dinner).
Repeat. Bad days count. Half sessions count. Effort counts.
In a month, you won’t be a new person - you’ll be a sturdier one. In three months, people will ask what changed. In a couple years, you won’t recognise the old you.
The Line I Live By Now
Nobody runs your world but you.
No one is coming to put the fork down for you, drag you to bed on time or load the bar. It’s your life. And the only person who has to believe in you the entire way… is you.
If you don’t believe in you, why should anyone else?
I believed just enough to start. The gym held the rope when my head slipped. I kept pulling. Some days I crawled. Some days I flew. But I didn’t let go.
Start small. Start today. Stay long.
I’ll see you in six months - stronger, steadier, LOUDER. C’MON!!!!!!!
