Keep Moving Forward
As a personal trainer, I have goals - to lift heavier, to lose body fat, to run longer, but this year my goal is to completely take a step out of my comfort zone. In 2017, my goal is to run the half marathon in September. Whilst the event itself is still in the distant future, I feel that it is crucial to start mentally and physically preparing myself now in order to ensure that I achieve what I have set out to do. To me, running is always nothing more than that of a series of arguments between the parts of my brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going.
In order to achieve my goal, I believe that I need to take suitable steps now to make sure that I will be able to persevere through any obstacles or challenges that may come my way in the coming preparation months.
So the question goes, what is perseverance? To persist steadfastly in pursuit of an undertaking task or journey or goal, even if hindered by distraction, difficulty, obstacles or discouragement.
Perseverance and self-motivation are essential qualities desired throughout life that are needed, in order to achieve goals and reach success. When it comes to achieving goals, the chances are, it probably won't come easy. We may struggle and it may take longer to get there than at first thought. However, to persevere we need to believe that we can succeed - this belief is the first step and is crucial.
It's also important to remember the essentials:
What do we want to achieve?
- Have a clear, mapped out plan of how we're going to get there; what do we need to do to achieve our goals? Taking small steps to consistently progress each day will mean that our achievements will be inevitable.
- Fail to plan, plan to fail. It's crucial to have a purpose and to plan out the necessary changes that we will need to make. Often, we set health and fitness related goals but fail to make necessary plans to achieve them. We need to be intentional in our planning because if we fail to plan, we are planning to fail.
- Accordingly, nothing changes if nothing changes. We have to be prepared to make conscious decisions in order for change to happen. If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got.
Embrace the setbacks, embrace the struggles. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get there.
- When things go wrong, are we prepared to accept them and use them to our advantage to keep moving forward? There will predictably be times when things don't seem to be going accordingly, or the way that we want them to, and that's when we find ourselves giving up. It's important to appreciate that setbacks will happen. Without setbacks, we are unable to learn what's necessary to move forward and reach our goals. Often, our greatest insights and most inspiring life lessons come from these setbacks. Valuable lessons come from failure, so remember, it is integral that we embrace the setbacks and struggles, and view them as opportunities to learn and keep moving forward toward reaching our goals.
Finally, remember - don't quit before you get there! More often than not, we get lost and the easiest option is to give up, but consequently that will leave us only further away from achieving what we have set out to do. By developing a sense of perseverance in life, and embracing a 'never give up' attitude, achieving our goals will be guaranteed. To achieve our goals, we need to persevere and keep moving forward, despite the obstacles.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
