Sunday Story...Day One

Sunday Story....Day One

New years day. Why do we put such stock in the passing of this particular 24 hours? Is there some magical property that midnight of December 31st holds that allows us to begin anew, the promise of an unblemished future, dreams and goals put up for review and reshaping.

Probably not. There is no magic here, at least none that you could not conjure up tomorrow as well.

On the other hand...maybe there is just a little magic today. After all you get to say I haven't done ___ (fill in the blank) since last year. I haven't done ______(fill in the blank) yet this year. The slate is wiped clean...the chalk board has been erased...you have “tabula rasa”...a blank slate.

So what are you going to do? What does this magical moment hold for you? What are you willing to create today that was not possible yesterday?

Maybe this is the year you finally learn that foreign language you have always wanted to learn. Maybe this year that 30 pounds will finally disappear. Maybe you will get to the gym more than the first two week of the year. Maybe you will learn the new skills that get you a raise, or a new job. Maybe this year you will _____(fill in this blank too!)

Maybe not.

What has this January 1st be any different than the last one or the one before that?

I mean really...last year has come and gone...did you do anything you set out to do?

Did you do anything different this past year than the year before or the year before or the year before?

Really? REALLY? Then why aren't you in a different place than where you are?

Why are you still overweight?

Why are you still smoking?

Why are still out of shape?

Why are you not doing the things you KNOW you should /want/need to do to create the life you know you should be living?

Why indeed?

Lets face it. Change is scary. Transformation is unknown. You really don't know what will happen if you do the things that will need to do to change your life. And what you are doing is known. What you are doing is comfortable, what you are doing is easy. If you keep doing it you will keep getting what you have always done and is that really all that bad? After all you have been doing it for so very long.

I know what I need to do to make the shifts in my life. I have an accountability coach that reminds me of this waaaaay too often. Yet I don't always take my own advice. Why not? Why not (as Nike says) Just Do It? It really isn't that hard. As a matter of fact it is really simple. Not easy, just simple.

Set a goal
Make a plan to achieve the goal
Execute the plan.
Simple

So what's the stop?

For myself and for many others the stop isn't the goal. The stop isn't seeing what we want.

Oh no...the stop is knowing the reason why. Why do you want to … lose 30 pounds … learn a new language … get in shape … ????? I know the obvious reasons....they haven't changed over the last few years have they?

Unfortunately they are all fear based. You are afraid that you will be sick if you don’t lose the weight. You are afraid you will get passed over for a promotion if you don’t learn new skills. You are afraid you will die before your time if you don’t get in shape. Fear is a powerful motivator but it isn't working. It can only work so far. We see people every day who are told by their M.D. that if they don’t lose weight they are going to die young. Yet they don't do it. And yes they are afraid of death? Maybe they think their Dr. is lying? Maybe they think it just won't happen to them?

So what is the answer? For me it is a compelling vision of what I want my life to look like, to be. It is a vision that gets me up in the morning, jumping out of bed, running to the shower, in a rush to get the things done to get that vision fulfilled.

So what is the vision...because a promotion isn't it. A few pounds isn't it. New skills...nope. It is what those things will give you, get you. You must discover a compelling, my hair is on fire, vision of who and what you want your future to look like. It must excite you like a 5 year old at Christmas. You have to be on fire to get this done, to become this new person.

So what is it? What is the reason you are going to do the really hard work to get where you have never been before? It isn't going to be easy you know. It may be simple but it is never easy. And this first step may be the hardest. You need to find the thing that will light a fire under your behind, that will catapult you out of bed in the morning, that will have you continue in the face of failure and adversity. What is this amazing goal/reason/dream that you must fulfill or die?

And are you strong enough to really look inside and figure it out? For most of us (myself included) this is the stop. This is the place where I just don't get off the line. Maybe I am afraid of really facing what I want because then I will have to go do it. I don't know.

What I know is that I must do this. I must find the compelling, set my hair on fire, get out of my way, reason to achieve the change I want to achieve. Or just continue to live this life of quiet desperation.

Doesn't seem like much of a choice to me. How about you?

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com
 
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