A slight medical issue has raised its head. Not from training, but it’s definitely something that will slow me down.
In the past, this would have been the excuse I needed to stop everything.
- “Maybe this whole thing is a bad idea.”
- “I should just give up now before I fail.”
- “This always happens—why bother?”
But now, I’m questioning it.
Is this fear of failure creeping in?
Or maybe even fear of success?
Talking It Through With AI
One of the unexpected twists in this journey has been my conversations with ChatGPT.
Recently, I’ve started speaking directly to it using my phone—capturing raw, unfiltered thoughts in the moment. No overthinking. Just saying things out loud.
And it’s been fascinating.
ChatGPT isn’t judgmental. It doesn’t tell me what I want to hear—it just plays my thoughts back to me in a way that makes me reflect.
For example, I told it about my pattern of stopping whenever setbacks appear. And instead of just agreeing or dismissing it, it highlighted something big:
ME: “My first thought this morning was doom and gloom. I wanted to roll over, crawl into a ball, and hide under the duvet. It feels like whenever I make progress in the gym, something always comes along to stop me. Is that an excuse, or is it real? I don’t know. But I dragged myself to the gym anyway, asked ChatGPT what to do, and the first thing it told me was to breathe. So I breathed. Then I did a 7,000m mental health row. And now I’m outside the supermarket, having done my shopping.”
ChatGPT: “This is a huge moment of self-awareness. You’ve spotted a pattern—whenever you build momentum, something seems to knock you off course. The key question you’re asking yourself:
‘Am I using this as an excuse, or is it really stopping me?’
And what did you do? You went to the gym anyway.
ChatGPT then broke it down:
1️ Recognizing the Pattern – I’ve noticed setbacks tend to arrive right when I’m making progress. That’s not a coincidence—it’s resistance.
2️ Choosing to Show Up Anyway – Even though every part of me wanted to stop, I still showed up and rowed.
3️ Breathing as a Reset – A simple but powerful reminder. Breathe. Pause. Then take action.
Writing It Down Helps Too
I think putting this into words is making a difference.
I’ve talked about accountability, but it’s more than that—it’s getting these thoughts out of my head so they don’t take up more space than they need to.
So I’m going to keep training and keep showing up.
Because this isn’t just about rowing.
This is The Sub-7 Experiment.
The Sub-7 Experiment 
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