Are you not getting started with something you really want to do because you are nervous about what you can not do? You are not alone. Just TAKE ACTION!! You will not be able to do as well as others that have been doing “that thing” for a while but you will get better and you will see you can do more than you think. As you keep going, you will get better and better! Don’t be intimidated to start – remember, it’s all about YOUR first step 🙂 Watch this quick video for motivation to help get you started.
Embracing the Grind
I was recently talking to a friend and I really appreciate what he told me.
He was explaining how he was frustrated with himself. He had some goals that he started the new year with and wasn’t on track.
I appreciate how brutally honest he was. Most people don’t acknowledge the reality so I was impressed by that.
After he explained a bit about what was going on, he said, “What it comes down to is I have a hard time staying motivated and doing what I know I need to do when the result is so far away.”
Have you ever felt that way? I know I have.
My friend was looking for advice so I wanted to share some of what I discussed with him.
There isn’t necessarily an easy fix to this but hopefully you’ll find this useful.
Vision – What keeps people going when things get tough is always their vision. “Vision” is simply the picture of how things can be in the future. It doesn’t seem worth it when we only look at the short-term but once we look at the bigger picture and keep that at the center, our perspective changes.
The more emotion that is attached to vision the better. When I had a goal to pay off 100K+ in non-mortgage debt, what kept me going was vision. I pictured a better life, a better marriage, and kids that would grow up much different than I had. That was powerful. It caused me to do things that most people would never do. The things we sacrificed didn’t seem so hard because our eyes were on the prize.
Make it easier to do or harder to do – Ultimately, our outcome will be a result of our habits. Aristotle said, “….success is a habit.” We have to make the thing we want to do as easy as possible. On the flip side, we need to make the thing we don’t want to do as hard as possible.
One example that comes to mind is saving or even paying your-self first. If you have to literally pay your-self (i.e. write a check and deposit it) each period you’ll be much less likely to do it than if it were automatic. Long-term savings is the same and it also relates to the first point. At age 40, I’m putting money away that won’t be touched for decades or perhaps longer. If that weren’t automatic, it would be much more difficult.
You can make money that you don’t want to spend harder to spend by transferring it to a different bank and putting the bank card and info in a locked safe.
Embrace the process – This is related to the point above but it has more to do with how we view the journey. There is value in stretching ourselves whether or not we get the desired result. John Maxwell says that if we are going downhill we’re going the wrong way.
What’s probably better than accumulating one million dollars plus is who you become in the process of doing that. You’ll become a more positive, confident, disciplined, and generous person.
Let me know which of the 3 points resonated with you the most and why.
Embracing the Grind
I was recently talking to a friend and I really appreciate what he told me.
He was explaining how he was frustrated with himself. He had some goals that he started the new year with and wasn’t on track.
I appreciate how brutally honest he was. Most people don’t acknowledge the reality so I was impressed by that.
After he explained a bit about what was going on, he said, “What it comes down to is I have a hard time staying motivated and doing what I know I need to do when the result is so far away.”
Have you ever felt that way? I know I have.
My friend was looking for advice so I wanted to share some of what I discussed with him.
There isn’t necessarily an easy fix to this but hopefully you’ll find this useful.
Vision – What keeps people going when things get tough is always their vision. “Vision” is simply the picture of how things can be in the future. It doesn’t seem worth it when we only look at the short-term but once we look at the bigger picture and keep that at the center, our perspective changes.
Make it easier to do or harder to do – Ultimately, our outcome will be a result of our habits. Aristotle said, “….success is a habit.” We have to make the thing we want to do as easy as possible. On the flip side, we need to make the thing we don’t want to do as hard as possible. I had one client who was staying up too late looking at her phone so she made it harder to do. She took her phone a few hours before bed and locked it in a safe downstairs. She knew that she would be much less likely to look at her phone if it required all that work to get it.
Embrace the process – This is related to the point above but it has more to do with how we view the journey. We could work out for weeks and still not see the scale move. The key is seeing the value of going through the process. It’s not necessarily about the result but who you become in the process. I truly believe that you become a better person just by challenging your-self physically. All of the other benefits would be in addition to that.
Let me know which of the 3 points resonated with you the most.
3 Ways To Get More Positive & Healthy
There are so many benefits to being happy and positive! Here are some quick tips to help you get there 🙂
Go On A Gratitude Walk
Take a short walk and focus on what you are grateful for! This could be as short as 5 minutes but it will change your mindset. I recommend EVERY day but even if it’s only once a week due to time constraints it will absolutely change your mindset from the negative to the positive.
Have A Big Picture
People who succeed with health and fitness (or anything else) have a big picture view.
They realize that the choices they make today make their tomorrow.
Stephen Ambrose’s book Nothing Like It in the World tells the story of the transcontinental railroad in America. “The railroad took brains, muscle, and sweat in quantities and scope never before put into a single project,” Ambrose wrote.
Ambrose talks about how certain California people wanted to have a celebration as the project began. Dignitaries were invited to the place where the first rail was to be laid.
Perhaps the most important west coaster backer of the project, Collis Huntington, was invited, but he declined saying:
“If you want to jubilate (celebrate) over driving the first spike, go ahead and do it. I don’t. Those mountains over there look too ugly. We may fail, and if we do, I want to have as few people know it as we can….”
Huntington realized that it wasn’t about driving the first spike. That was easy. There would be months of hard work between the first and last spike.
While there is nothing wrong with acknowledging or celebrating the start of something, the key is to have a sense of direction and the resilience to continue until the goal is reached.