Throughout our lives there are many things we experience that change us as individuals, whether it’s a quote, person, place or thing. All of us have different experiences, as well as different mentalities and mindsets towards achieving goals. In my life I have had many experiences that changed my mentality for the better, some of which stood out more than others. Some of these experiences include meeting new teachers, new friends, but the two experiences that have stood out to me the most are going to the gym and watching TV shows, one in particular, known as Impractical Jokers.
When I was younger (in my years of middle school and high school), I was very unmotivated to improve upon myself and achieve goals. I didn’t really have too many hobbies that I wanted to spend a lot of time and effort to improve myself upon. I was also very quiet and antisocial. Over time I began to get interested in sports that my school offered, including wrestling and tennis. Although I didn’t have many goals when I was younger, I was very competitive. I wanted to be the best I could be at the sports I was interested in. My body was very out of shape and I knew that I had to do something about it in order to improve. Signing up to the gym was the most obvious decision so the next day I signed up to a gym by Queens Central Mall, Retro-Fitness. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the gym was a quote, a quote that has stuck with me to this very day. On the wall of the gym it said “Goals are attained not by strength, but by perseverance”. This quote made me think deeply about all the goals I could have achieved in the past if only I had the right mentality towards it. Since then I have read that quote in the middle of my workout over and over, just so I could get that last rep in. Ever since I joined the gym, I noticed the weight numbers increasing as well as my physique improving. The gym also helped my goals regarding sports, as I noticed lifting opponents in wrestling and my endurance increase for tennis. In tennis we won the championship against Grover Cleveland High School and in wrestling I won 3rd place in the 152lb weight class. It still blows my mind that I achieved all this from a quote that I read at the gym to help me stay motivated. Not only did the quote stick in my head, but I would also motivate my friends that went to the gym with me using that quote. This quote has made a huge impact not only on my mindset, but also on my personality around others. Seeing my progress over time from the gym has shown me that if I put the work into a goal I would like to achieve, as well as have a positive mindset, that it can be achieved. This quote was made by the staff working at Retro-Fitness and was meant to inspire everyone that achieving a goal is all about having the right mentality towards it.
Going to the gym improved my mentality for achieving goals, but another experience that has changed me as an individual is Impractical Jokers. Impractical Jokers is a comedy TV show about four friends competing in challenges to embarrass each other. The cast members are told what to do by the other jokers and if they cannot complete a challenge, lose the challenge. At the end of each episode, the joker with the most losses is “punished” by the other jokers and doesn’t have a way out of it. Some of these punishments include getting a tattoo of a random celebrity, shaving their entire head (and eyebrows) and taking a drivers license picture, being handcuffed to a mime for an entire day, and many MANY more. This show is one of the only shows that come to mind that can ALWAYS make me laugh, no matter what mood I am in. Throughout every episode the Jokers have different challenges as well as different jokes, which makes it all original. Occasionally they bring back some jokes but the setting and occasion is different so it ends up with a different reaction from the Jokers. Overall this show is unique and hilarious since I feel like it is hard for me to genuinely laugh on certain occasions. This show brings out my comedic side as well as a different point of view on my life as a whole. Some events in my life I consider to be embarrassing but Impractical Jokers has shown me otherwise. I learned that it is much better to look at the past (especially embarrassing or upsetting moments) with a positive mentality through jokes and laughter rather than dreading the past with stress. One thing that also stands out to me about Impractical Jokers is that the cast members make a living off of something that they enjoy doing, which is joking around and having a good time. Seeing this shows me that it is possible to have a career that you can truly enjoy. This show also proves a saying I have heard many times throughout my life, being that “laughter is the best medicine”. The purpose of this show is to make the audience laugh, and I can say that they have done a great job of doing that, as sometimes watching the show has me in tears of laughter. Especially during the pandemic, everyone could use a little bit of laughter and positivity. For me, Impractical Jokers was one of the best forms of entertainment during the peak of the pandemic when all stores were closed down and the government restricted social gatherings.
These experiences have shown me that even the smallest things in someone’s life can have a large impact on the mentality of an individual. For me, the most mental improvement came from a quote that I read at the gym and a comedy show, which shows that any experience can be used to change the outlook of life for an individual.