Does pursuing your goals make you feel alive?
It’s been said many times by many different people that the most rewarding aspect of accomplishing a significant goal is not so much the actual completion of the goal but who you become in the process. I certainly agree with this viewpoint. I would like to add something from my own personal experience.
You know you are on the right track when your goal makes you feel ALIVE!
In this week’s challenge I recap a major goal that I accomplished while creating the Accountability Challenge Program the first time around.back in 2011.
Back then I was training for the completion of my third Ironman Triathlon. To refresh your memory, an Ironman Triathlon is when you swim 3.86km, bike 180km, run, walk or crawl 42.2km…and then you get to BRAG for a lifetime…
Let me take you back to June of 2011….
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Accountability Challenge Week 29: Feeling Alive:
I’m currently less than four weeks away from pursuing the completion of my third Ironman Triathlon in Klagenfurt Austria. Because I have successfully completed this type of challenge twice in the past-I have complete confidence (certainty in fact) that baring any kind of unforeseen catastrophe I will successful cross the finish line on July 3rd.
However, I’ve discovered, or perhaps re-discovered something of immense importance to me-I believe it’s what they call an ‘aha’ moment. I discovered that the pursuit of this goal-which has definitely not gotten any easier the third time around-has awoken within me a strong sense of what Dr Maxwell Maltz calls ALIVENESS.
This spring I have cycled and run in some of the most unpleasant weather conditions that I can recall. From frigid temperatures, to high winds, and torrential downpours-my resolve not to mention my hypothermia has been tested. At the end of April on one frosty Saturday morning I had to get off my bike and seek shelter in the warmth of a local Oakville golf pro shop in order to give my frozen fingers and toes an opportunity to thaw out. It was so cold outside that they weren’t even letting the golfers tee off on the course. Here I was in the midst of a 100 km bike ride, wearing cycling shorts no less.
The last few weeks of training leading up to the Ironman tend to be extremely grueling. It’s not unusual to take on training rides of 180-200km followed by 2 hours of running. When you’re smack, dab in the middle of these sessions-you feel like a) you’ll never get through them b) that they will never end c) you must be totally out of your mind to be choosing to do this to yourself.
However, there comes a point during these arduous training sessions-a serene, tranquil moment-where you finally allow your mind with all of its chatter to let go, become quiet and you just focus on the work at hand. You suspend judgment and doubt and some other force takes over.
Pedal by pedal, and step by step you gain a rhythm and begin mentally, physically and emotionally you tap into strength you never knew you possessed. It’s hard to describe, the best way I can do it justice is to state that you feel an energy and power- an aliveness that makes all of the discomfort and challenges fall away. It truly is amazing what we can accomplish-it’s moments like this that I KNOW that anything is possible. Certainly a heck of a lot more than that old enemy Resistance will trick us into believing.
I find the pursuit of my goal in the midst of these drastic weather conditions and challenges has only served to heighten my resolve and make me feel more ALIVE, exuberant, and determined than I thought possible. Enjoying a feeling or sense of aliveness is one of the most wonderful experiences we can have.
Accountability Challenge Week 29: Feeling Alive:
Where and when and how can you feel more ALIVE? Take a few minutes to reflect and journal around this extremely significant question.
Please feel free to pass along your answers to me when you have a quiet moment
Expect Success,
Mark,
Thought for the week: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Goethe.
Mark Hudon, CFP™, CCS™
Financial Fitness Coach, Certified Cash Flow Specialist™
Creator of The Core Conditioning Program™
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