Starting fresh at a new gym, school or job means nobody there knows your limits. Don’t tell them.

Reputations are sticky, and most of yours was set by things you did years ago in front of people who still remember them. A new place has none of that. Nobody there holds a file on what you are bad at or a story about the time it went wrong, so the ceiling everyone assumed is simply not in the room.

When you land somewhere new, resist introducing yourself with your own disclaimers. Do not open with what you cannot do. Let people meet the current version and form an opinion, which is usually higher than the one you brought with you.