Summit Mountains
Whether its the start of a New Year or reaching your big 5-0 birthday, we often wait until we hit certain milestones before starting change. But why wait? Maybe you have always wanted to train for a marathon, but can’t seem to justify spending hours training for your long runs. Maybe you hope to expand your current business, but feel you need your present workload to quiet down first. (Insert any grand plan or improvement for yourself and pair it with a totally understandable excuse).
Again, but why wait? Though we may want to devote our best efforts to our highest priorities, there will never be an ideal time and conditions will never be perfect. Quit waiting around for perfect circumstances before starting your personal goals. Start now. There is no better time than the present moment to kickstart your goals. We all face various mountains in our life, but here are a few ways to tackle and reach the summit of your goals.
Mountain: “I can’t because it’s too hard”
You may have set a big, audacious goal and now find yourself stuck in reality, overwhelmed and unprepared to tackle your goal.
Summit: “Work on having a momentum mindset”
Create a vision board with inspiring images to help motivate your quest. Become more aware of the resources showing up in your life to help you, instead of focusing on setbacks. Set small daily behaviors that will build into long-term habits.
Mountain: “Now is not the time”
I’ll do it come summer…I’ll do it when it’s the holiday…I’ll do it when the kids leave
This thought process deceivingly tricks our brain into thinking that we are taking action and making progress when we are sedentary. But if you truly want to succeed, you need to approach the subject with a different mindset.
Summit: “Recruit an ally”
Find an accountability coach (spouse, Lifestyle Ledger, friend, etc.) to keep you on track with your goals. Ask for feedback and have them call you out when you fall short of your goals. Find time in your busy schedule by being selective with how you spend your time and say no unless it is beneficial to one of your top priorities.
Mountain: “I’ve failed in the past, why bother now?”
The fear of history repeating itself can hold you back from moving forward and achieving your goals. Stop focusing on what happened and start focusing on how you can take action to stop history from repeating itself.
Summit: “Use your failures as learning experiences”
From a subjective perspective, look at your failures as information. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this and how can I grow?” Hit the reset button and go about your problem with a new solution. You may fail again, but those who plan for failures are more likely to achieve their big wins. For example, if your marathon training didn’t go as well as hoped because of your family vacation, find trails in your vacation destination and sneak in an early morning run before your family wakes up.
Don’t let the mountains in your life intimidate you, commit to the climb and conquer!