It's a seemingly endless list of wishes, some unrealistic, but many of them are well within your reach. The common theme, the one that keeps wishes just that, wishes, is change. In order to achieve and make your wishes, your dreams a reality, is accepting that you must change. And, let's be clear, change is hard, it fundamentally means something in your life is going to be different. Often times our perception is that making that change is to give something up, to lose something. Sometimes it's true, but more often than not it means gaining something far more than what we lost.
Often times change does require us to give something up:
- Bad habits
- Poor choices
- Unhealthy behaviors
- Stress
- Negative self talk
- and a whole host of other traits that keep us from accomplishing our endless list of wishes
Change also requires us to evaluate our life, our choices, and our perspectives. In order to make our wishes come true, we need first to believe that what we want is possible. Often, when I present a challenge to someone, their first response is: "I could never do that." And, with that attitude, they're right, they can't. More often than not we've given up before we've even started, or even considered starting!
We like the idea of something, but seldom believe we have the ability to do it. We present ourselves a host of self created obstacles as to why what we most want is not attainable.
- I don't have time
- I don't know how to do that
- I don't know how to start
- I wouldn't be any good
- I'm too (fill in the blank)
I get it, it's easy, way easier than committing to the process and making the changes that will allow you to stand in awe of something you once thought impossible. It can be terrifying, the thought of putting yourself out there, risking what you know, risking failure.
I've stood at the starting line, legs shaking, nauseous, terrified that after what seemed like a lifetime of training that ultimately I might fail. That's the risk! However: at the end of day, goal accomplished or not, I always knew I could stand proud because I was willing to take a chance, to challenge myself, and to dream big.
I challenge you, write down your wish list, say them out loud, and once you've done that, take the next step. Tell yourself, out loud, that it's possible, that your possible. Once you've committed to believing what you want is possible, start making the changes you need to make your wish list a list of accomplishments.
Some simple steps to get you started:
- Understand your goal, if it's a marathon, triathlon, or other sporting event, get an understanding of what's involved in participation. Talk with other participants, trust me they'll be more than happy to share their experiences (often in more detail than you want). If it's a hiking, outdoor, or travel adventure, seek out those who've been there and get their perspective on their experience.
- Respect that your goals will require work, plain hard work. Fitness professionals snapshot their lives so everything we do looks easy, but it's always been a product of dedicated hard work. There are no short cuts.
- Acquire the skills necessary, learn and establish a solid foundation of the skills you'll need to accomplish your goal.
- Commit to the process. This seems like an easy one, but often times it's one of the most difficult. Committing to the process requires trusting that what you're doing will actually work.
- Don't give up. When things go south, and yes, they will go south, keep moving forward. Forging ahead through difficult periods is unfortunately a necessary part of the process. These hard times is what you'll draw on when you're out on your adventure, they create the realization that you can persevere when the road is dark.
- Build a trusted support network. Surround yourself with people who understand what you're trying to do and will support you.
- Communicate to your loved ones, family, and support network. Open and honest communication can solve many problems that creep up, especially when things aren't going quite as planned.
- Embrace the change and savor the experience. The experience is so much more than the end product, it's the whole process, the life changes you made, the training, new friends, new places, good days and bad, it's everything.
I challenge you, KOLIfit challenges you: Wish Hard, Dream Big and Live Your Story!
