Each Day Decide if You Can’t or Don’t Want To
The main obstacle between your goals and you is your commitment. Think about that. You want to lose ten pounds but can’t. You are really not committed. I lost 40 pounds last year and found it got easier and more fun as I continued.
I originally set out to lose 25 pounds. As I engaged, I found I lost my cravings in 3 weeks and then it become fun and exciting. I still had to fight plateaus, but my why was so strong, I could fight through the obstacles. I had a commitment that said I cannot quit.
Now that I put ten pounds back on, I want to lose the weight, but I can’t. The real truth is I don’t want to. I am no longer committed, and I don’t have a great why. I just think that I enjoyed being lighter and the justifications are better oxygen uptake for sports and more agility.
What is it you really want to achieve? How bad do you want it? This is a serious question. If you don’t want it more than anything else you are working on, you might not have the commitment to achieve it. It is just a fantasy.
I might want to play in the Super Bowl but it is just a fantasy. Caleb Williams, the USC junior quarterback has been working on being a quarterback every day since he was 12 years old. He is the possible number one draft pick next year and that has been his target. He wants to be a pro player and he wants to be the number one pick. I think its a bad idea because he will go to the worst team and these QBs usually get burnt out before they get traded to a good team.
To achieve a goal it must be a challenge. Challenging is the first important criteria. Achieving it must be the reward of finding out who you are. Anyone can walk up a steep hill in your city, but can you climb Mt Everest? Or would you be fully satisfied climbing Mt Mckinley or even Mt. Whitney.
My friend at 70 years old wanted to hike to base camp at Everest 17,500 feet up. All those who said they would go with him dropped out pretty fast when they read about climbing 8 days for 7 to 8 hours a day starting at 12,000 feet. He was not in good shape. He started by walking four miles a day. He conditioned for a year with walks up to 25 miles. He made it. I was very proud of him and knew I could never do it. I can’t climb above 10,000 feet before I feel like I am going to die. I clearly don’t want to.
One secret of success is picking the right target. What is it that would really express who you are to you? I have always wanted to write a book. I started with attempts when I was in my 20’s but could never put one together. At retirement, I started blogging on health, fitness, spirituality, and careers. After a few years of daily writing, I figured the next challenge was daily writing on a book. I made it. I now have 24 books on Amazon.
What is it you would commit your life to? What is your passion? What expresses you more than anything else? I have always committed to fitness. I have to say I am the only person over 70 I ever see on a snowboard at the resorts I visit. There lots of senior skiers, but not snowboarders. It has taken a lifetime of fitness to help me keep snowboarding.
You have years left to live. Can you make them outstanding by expressing who you are in a passion? People who can’t make an all out commitment to learn the skills, develop the discipline, and persist when the going gets tough don’t reach their goals or realize their dreams. This is what movies are often about. Not that the star did something that couldn’t be accomplished, but that they accomplished something that looked impossible for them.
There is a true story about a Frenchman who told his girlfriend he would climb Mt Everest to prove his love for her. When he made the promise, he did not know how high Mt Everest was. All the media in France started covering his quest hour by hour. He became the first non-climber to ever climb Everest. Love is a powerful motivator.
You have to find your dream that aligns with a passion that speaks to who you are. Sometimes, most of the time, you begin first and then find you like something. In fact, you find you like something so much you want to do it forever and see how far you can go. Pros on the world surfing tour are examples. Soloists who climb rock faces without ropes are an example. Man walking on the moon is an example. A poor child getting a scholarship to college is an example. Finding a cure for cancer would be an example.
There are many things you can’t do. There are many good things to accomplish you won’t do. There has to be something worthwhile that would be the biggest challenge of your life that you want to do.
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