ACCOMPLISHMENTS
I believe that life is a journey. It is a constant struggle of learning from experiences, growing from mistakes, and compounding one’s knowledge over time to become as strong as individually possible. No one person is alike. But we each share the possibility of greatness.
If someone were to make a movie of your life, would they want to watch it? Are there captivating episodes, conflicts, struggles, events, successes, and/or failures that were pivotal aspects of your life worth telling as a story?
I think life is about accomplishments. It is about being that alpha male and doing things that others wince at. Being able to do astonishing feats regular people would not consider with out hesitation distinguish us from the growing crowd of people on Earth.
To define a “regular person” is quite simple. Those people who do regular day-to-day things with out much change: born, experience childhood, go to high school, college, have a career, family, kids of their own, retire, die.
It is what we do during these phases of life that defines us and makes us more of a person. For example, Yoda did not become wise over night. He had vast years of knowledge built up through his many experiences. If Yoda had just stayed at home, never did anything astonishing or accomplished no ranking achievement, he would have been just a regular, boring, small green man.
Growing up every human being takes everything in and enjoys it because life is new. Each experience, from the first time on a bicycle without training wheel, playing on a swing, running in the grass barefoot, and even leaving home to go to school are events that shape us. Our interactions with people, the people we meet, and how we carry ourselves determines the path we will follow in life.
Some people just go to college to get the piece of paper called a “degree”. But what does that paper symbolize? It means that you can show up to classes, do homework, and get a passing score.
People who work human resources and conduct interviews will all tell you this: “What experience do you have?”
THIS IS WHAT I AM GETTING AT.
Experience. It is something we all get by doing the things in life that we can only get better at by constant practice over time. It is a knowledge bank of memory that reminds us how to do things the most proper way. It is the confidence of doing something because you have done it before.
“Oh, I should bring hand warmers and a jacket just in case because the weather turned for the worse last time we hiked on that trail.”
“Slow down here because the cops like to run radar in this area.”
“My pistol fires high and right, so I aim just a little down and to the left.”
“I’m never going to drink tequila ever again…”
It is experience that makes wise men, wise men. Learning from experience will not only make you a better and stronger person, but it will also help you make those accomplishments you may be striving for, a possible reality.
SETTING LONG TERM AND SHORT TERM GOALS
First, we need to take a long hard look at our selves and ask the question. Who do I want to be in this life? Do I just want to just sit at home and watch time fly by? Or do I want to be part of the game rather than a spectator of the crowd.
Think back to all of the exciting stories you have told your friends at social events. The type of stories that are crazy, exciting, funny, and which captivate your audience into an aura of fixation. These are the events that change people. These are the stories people talk about and say “hey man, tell us again about that time you…”
If you do not have any of these stories, we have a lot to work on. But for most of us, we have all had at least some events in our lives that stand out amongst our normal daily routine.
A trip to Spain trumps out the daily routine of waking up for work.
I bet if you think back to all of events in your life, you will find that you can only remember the things in your life that were the most fun, entertaining, traumatizing, different, and most of all, life changing.
We all have these memories.
Think back to an experience you had. It can be something last week or last year. Look back into your memory banks for something that changed you or had an impact on you worth noting. It could be a trip, an interview for a job, or even tasting a new type of food.
Think, why do I remember this? Why am I storing this memory? What did I feel?
We all remember the feeling of doing something we thought we could never do. The way we carry our selves is forever changed because we have a new found confidence that makes one feel superior to those who have not done what we have done. This is not to be confused by thinking we are better than anyone, as this is where we can get in trouble, but simply a state of mind.
Remember, if someone were to read a story of your life, would they want to read it? Now we need to get off of our rear ends and start doing something with our lives. We want to do the things that will make us as a person better.
Everyone is different, and thus our goals should be different.
First, make a list of accomplishments or goals that you would want to achieve this week, month, year, and/or your life. Some goals will be easier to attain, while others will take time. This is where short term goals come in which I will talk about later.
For example, you can list out goals for this week to go to the park with your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, etc…Get that experience that differs from just staying at home watching the television.
Let’s say you share the same goal of many people in that you want to one day run a marathon. You think, if P Diddy can do it, so can I…However, you do know when or where, you just know that you want to do one.
Write it down, tell people, and find a driving force that will motivate you to do it. Motivation is essential. You should WANT to do what ever it is you are planning on doing. Think about all those times mom forced you to go shopping at the mall for hours for mom clothes and how boring it was. You did not want to do it and you felt miserable the entire time. The same goes here.
You want to run a marathon because you want to do it. Erase all negativity from your mind. It is not just a physical challenge, but a mental game as well.
Let’s not forget heart too.
Now that we have that thought out, take a look at everything in your life you would have to work on to get to where you want to go. These are small steps that assist you in getting you to your final long term goal of completing a marathon. These steps along the process are called short term goals, which are incremental steps that help you build one by one to accomplish the final goal.
Simply, you can not compete in a downhill ski race if you have never skied before (well, to do well to say the least). You start out small by taking training lessons where you slowly get better through time, which may take years. The final product of all this gets us to the long term goal of being able to compete in that downhill ski race.
Back to the marathon. Think about everything that may affect you in one way or another. What steps or goals can you work toward to get you to your final destination? If you are over weight, perhaps a new diet and work out routine is needed. Also, a marathon is 26.2 miles of running, you can not start out, if you have not trained or even jogged in years, by running that distance. You start out small and build your way up to greater distances. Perhaps your first goal is to do a one mile run. The next week you should build your self to two and so on.
There are many other steps you can do. For that, there are many websites, books, magazines, and friends that can help you along your way.
Remember, when writing down your list of goals, write down the things that you want to do, not things people tell you to do or things you should do. You are the ultimate judge that can motivate yourself to do anything.
Why do we do this?
It is that feeling of self pride and knowing that we have done something. It is a sense of wellness and self gratification that makes us fell better inside. It is a feeling that I can not describe. It is a feeling of complete bliss and content.
When I finished my first Ironman, knowing that my fiancé and family were there meant the world to me. I had trained hard all year, made many sacrifices, and pushed my body into a level of pain that I had never felt before. 15 hours and 52 minutes of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run (a full marathon) can have a lot of effects on you both mentally and physically. I almost gave up on the second of three laps of the run. I was throwing up, sick, dehydrated, and walking in pain from the hot temperature during the race. But, when I saw my fiancé and a friend from work who had shown up, I remembered how hard I had worked at trying to accomplish this incredible feat of an Ironman. I suddenly a second wind, started running again, and finished with time to spare. Crossing that finish line was a mix of emotions. I was happy and sad all at the same time. I had done something that I thought I would never do.
