Hope isn’t a winning strategy when it comes to making this year better than last. You need to take action, with a big picture plan – and a daily process to get there.
Here’s a formula I use to get crucial WINS each year and if applied, can make 2019 your best year yet.
I tore my Achilles almost seven weeks ago during a men’s basketball league game. As anyone who has gone through this recovery process can attest, it has not been a fun seven weeks.
I’ve been actively doing physical therapy 2-3 days a week with the awesome team at PMST in Dallas, but have found mentally, it’s been even more of a recovery process. I’m used to working out 5-6 days per week, staying active throughout the day, and overall moving easily.
That’s quite a bit harder with your foot in a boot, unable to put pressure on it.
I went back to the gym my third week after the injury (when I had the initial cast removed) to start limited upper-body workouts. I could bench press. I could hop over by the dumb bell rack and do shoulder press or flys. There was a handful of core movements and situps I can do. It was enough of a combination to give me a decent workout in the corner of the room while the rest of the class moves through the full body group workout.
And despite my laughter or joking with classmates and the sweat on my shirt from these limited movements, I was damn frustrated. I don’t like limitations. I don’t like being unable to workout with the rest of the class or do the same movements. I’m very limited to what I currently can do for previous six weeks and what I will be able to do for the upcoming six-to-eight weeks.
And as many of you who have dealt with injuries know, it sucks.
Each year, I anxiously anticipate Chris Brogan’s “My 3 Words..” blog post. It’s become tradition to read the post, meditate, and set the theme for my own key words of 2017. It also become my annual challenge to live outside of my comfort zone because these three words are to hold me accountable for the next 365 days.
Here’s how it works (taken from ChrisBrogan.com):
Courage or comfort? What will you choose? Do you want your life to be remembered as one represented by courage, or as one represented by comfort? The best stories – and lives – are those dictated by courage.
Here’s how you can live more boldly with yours.
How do you set a big goal and just smash the shit out of it?
You’ve got to have accountability. Every big dream, every big goal that you set requires accountability in order to reach it.
So, let’s break this down.
A big goal you may have for this year is that you want to get a ton stronger. That’s not really specific. Maybe you want to get a little stronger. Maybe a ton stronger. What’s the difference in those two? If you don’t set a specific goal, you cannot have anything to aim at.
Why do so many of us fall into the lie of waiting for a “perfect” time?
It’s as if we’re waiting to believe we suddenly receive inspiration, like an epiphany that comes to us. In all reality, we find inspiration by taking action and moving forward. Just like a snowball slowly rolls until it builds into an avalanche, so must we start out by moving forward.
This week’s message shares that even if it’s not perfect, starting with something always beats waiting on perfection.
Who writes your permission slip?
I remember when I was in school the permission slip was the key to getting out of class (and occasionally escaping boredom!). Sometimes you got a doctor’s note, sometimes the counselor would help you sneak out of class, and a few times the principal would give you the pass. You needed that slip to do anything outside of sit in class and learn. Your parents, teachers, & administration “controlled” the slip, and therefore controlled a part of you.
For some reason, as we grew older, we continued to act like someone has a pen and holds our permission slip. As if we can’t do anything without obtaining their permission first. We sit in neutral, choosing not to chase a dream because we don’t know if we have the permission to. We stay in a job we hate and in an environment that stifles growth because we don’t feel like we have the permission and right to make a change. It’s as if we are unable to give ourselves permission to make a change.
Chris Brogan is a big proponent of giving yourself permission. He writes,
“Permission is about claiming your crown. You can choose what you want to do next. You can choose how you respond. You can decide that now is a great time to get strong.” (Seeking Permission).
In other words, why do we wait for someone else to give us permission to do something that only we can do?
Chris once asked me – who gave me permission to start Compete? The answer was simple – me. I made the choice. I acted. I gave myself permission to succeed or fail in the pursuit of this goal. If I waited on someone else to give that permission, I would have never started. I would have constantly sought approval from others who don’t have the power to give me what I needed.
I’ll ask again, who writes your permission slip? If the answer isn’t you, you’ve given the pen to the wrong person.
I challenge you today to take it back. To claim your crown. And for you – and only you – to decide what to do next. It’s your life, Compete for it.
“Be realistic.”
Those two words are the most damaging to your dreams. “Being realistic” is accepting things as they are and lowering your goals. “Being realistic” means changing your dreams to fit inside their expectations of what you’re capable. “Being realistic” means living by their rules.
Not your own.
“Be realistic” is the phrase people tell you when they lack the vision to dream as big as you do – and the willpower to pursue dreams of that magnitude. It’s not that you can’t. It’s that they can’t, so therefore they assume you can’t. It’s a good thing your life isn’t dictated by what they believe to be reality. It’s dictated by what you do.
Don’t “be realistic” – be outrageous. Be flamboyant. Be wild.
Be YOU. Dream YOUR dreams. Set YOUR goals. Create YOUR life. Refuse to “be realistic.”
Dream big. Live bigger. Always.
Every blog article & social media post you see in regards to success all claim to have the “one magic formula” to transform you from tired goal-setter to successful goal-crusher. Each one subscribes to a different methodology. It’s quite easy to read through article after article, and yet walk away still thoroughly confused on what will get you from point A (the “now”) to point B (“victory).
We each come from a different background and set of circumstances, and almost all of us have a different goal. Many of you are focused on your sports’ goals. You want to lift “x” amount of weight. Reach “x” level of competition. And win at your sport’s highest level. Others are wanting to start their first business, or perhaps they already have, and are stuck in the midst of the early stages, continually beating their head against the wall in attempt to find the “magic” idea that will change everything overnight. And yet others have set personal health or financial goals, are can’t seem to wrap their mind around why they have yet to hit the same win’s as those “friends” they follow on Facebook.
Regardless of your goal, you are not alone in feeling stuck. We see success all over social media, and in turn begin to compare our “behind the scenes mess with their Sportscenter social media highlight reel.” (credits: Steven Furtick). We become frustrated. Isn’t there one thing I can do to finally get over this “hump” and hit my own journey’s tipping point?
Yes, there is.
Copyright © 2020 Compete Every Day, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
By