In life there are goals we know we can reach and those that we have a desire to reach but will not come easily. For the latter there are steps that must be taken and questions that need to be asked if we’re ever to get there. Today I’d like to share 4 steps I feel are crucial to achieving any major personal, professional or athletic goal.
1. Find your why. Motivation and inspiration are great for getting started. However, they are often easily forgotten once things start getting challenging or serious. Before you set out to achieve any goal you must honestly answer the question of why you want to achieve it. Is it money? Family? Self satisfaction? A desire to improve yourself? Once you’ve nailed down your why, quitting no longer becomes an option because your goal is personally tied to you in a more profound way which makes you willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve it.
2. Be willing to pay the price. To achieve anything worthwhile you’re going to have to sacrifice. I’ve had people ask me to help them lose weight in one sentence and then tell me they’re not giving up certain foods or habits in the next. These people will never succeed. The people that accomplish big things are those that are willing to adopt new strategies, eliminate old habits, adopt new ways of thinking, work harder, eliminate certain comforts and take risks.
3. Challenge your limit. Our society is set up for comfort and to a degree we all need it. However, overcoming challenges that fall outside of our comfort zone is ultimately what makes us more resilient and helps take us from “good” to “great”. Each and every time you push yourself out of a physical or emotional comfort zone your capacity for success grows by re-defining what you once thought of as difficult or normal. For example, your body tries to budget your energy output so it begins producing signs of fatigue at about 60% of your max physical output. If you never challenge that limit you will always get tired around the same time. However, if you aggressively push through that threshold and do your best to expend every bit of energy possible, your body develops a new frame of reference for what tired is. This will train your body to go past that 60% mark allowing you to create more speed, endurance and power going forward. Challenging any limit physically or emotionally works exactly the same way.
4. If you’re stalled, get help. On the path to a goal it is not uncommon to find ourselves stuck due to lack of knowledge, lack of experience, personal baggage or old habits. Sometimes we simply just don’t know what we don’t know. Rather than quit or begin making excuses, enlist the help of someone that can help you. Those with experience that have overcome problems you’re having are excellent examples of people that can assist you when your momentum stalls. Admitting you need help to achieve a goal does not make you weak; rather it is a sign of how committed you truly are.
Dr. Kenney has won multiple awards for “Best Chiropractor” and specializes in helping patients achieve their goals of better health and pain relief. For more information please visit www.NewBodyChiro.com, find us on Facebook (New Body Chiropractic & Wellness Center) or call (303) 347-9906.