by admin | Jul 27, 2015 | 52 Week Accountability Challenge
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….
………………………………
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™
Check out our exciting new Website, Radio Show, & Cash Flow Planning tools:
https://financiallyfitforlife.ca/
by admin | Jul 16, 2015 | Health & Fitness
Why Ironmen and Ironwomen Make Great CEOs
Over the last decade, triathlon has become the executive sport de rigueur. Triathlon tests you in different ways than most other endurance sports. And interestingly, it is analogous of the unique challenges of executive leadership. Like triathlon, executive leadership involves three core key competencies: setting a vision, developing strategy, and managing accountability. Great leaders are well-versed in each of these disciplines and know how to move fluidly between them. Athletes who progress to Ironman-distance events have developed several key characteristics that can serve them well as executives:
Read more here
by admin | Jul 13, 2015 | 52 Week Accountability Challenge
Accountability Challenge Week 28: The Power of Commitment:
Are you committed to your goal?
Are you really? On a scale from 1-10, rate your current level of commitment.
If it is less than 10 out of 10, than I propose that you are not as committed as you absolutely must be to reach your goal.
You can easily gauge your personal level of commitment (and whether it needs an attitude adjustment) by the answer to this very blunt but telling question:
Are you doing the work that your goal is telling asking you to do to achieve it?
Are you?
When I relate this very question to certain goals in my life (specifically my business development goals) the answer more often than I’d like to admit has been a resounding NO. No I haven’t been doing the work that my goal is asking me to do to achieve it.
The reason? It’s Resistance with a capital R in the form of my own favourite brand of ‘Rational Lies’:
“But what will they think? They’ll probably just say no, so why bother?
It won’t work! I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough….enough”
Lies, Lies, Lies. To quote my favourite line from The War of Art:
“Resistance is always lying, and it’s always full of shit”
Ok, so now I’ve decided to fight through my Resistance and this is the time that I will finally do the work.
The truth is always simple, not necessarily easy, but always painfully simple-at least that’s my own personal experience, and it’s always staring me in the face.
All I have to do is to have the courage to look at it, and then of course the courage and commitment to do the work .
What kind of personal commitment will it take to break through that wall of Resistance once and for all?
In listening to Pressfield’s audio program, Do The Work, he quoted some wonderful words from author WH Murray that I wanted to share with you. I quickly skipped over them the first few times I listened to the lesson, but tonight I decided to make an effort to gain a better understanding-so of course I googled them and le voila here they are….I hope they resonate with you as much as they have with me.
Accountability Challenge Week 28: The Power of Commitment:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents andmeetings andmaterial assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Quoted from the book “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951”, by William H. Murray (1913-1996)
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™
Check out our exciting new Website, Radio Show, & Cash Flow Planning tools:
https://financiallyfitforlife.ca/
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/financially-fit-for-life/
http://cashflow-specialist.com/
by admin | Jul 6, 2015 | 52 Week Accountability Challenge
Accountability Challenge Week 27: Stay Stupid…You just might learn something.
I remember being very excited when the new Stephen Pressfield CD, Do The Work came out a couple of years ago. I’ve been a huge fan of his work since I read his terrific no-nonsense book, The War of Art.
Pressfield is a writer who pulls no punches and I was anxious to hear how his work translated into audio format. I certainly was not disappointed.
Do The Work, is designed to guide and coach us through the completion of any creative plan or goal that we are determined to complete.
I laughed out loud when Pressfield bluntly stated that one of the keys to overcoming the enemy of Resistance was to “stay stupid”
Ok, you’ve got my attention I thought to myself, now what exactly do you mean by this?
The answer was refreshingly simple. Quite often we let the incessant chatter of our minds overwhelm us as we attempt to move forward toward a creative purpose-whether it’s losing 40 lbs, completing a marathon, starting a new business, or doubling our sales and income.
If you’re at all like me…Mr. Analytical-you find yourself endlessly analyzing every choice, option, decision you make-past, present or future. This can seem like a sensible approach to getting things just right, while cutting down on possible miss-steps. In truth it is more often a sly form of Resistance that holds us back from doing the work that our goals are telling us we need to do.
In my own experience this seemingly sensible approach has added needless years to the life cycle of my own goal achievement.
Do you ever think too much about your goals? How am I going to achieve this? What will happen if I take this course of action instead of another? What if it doesn’t work? What will they think? Etc. etc. etc…
To me “staying stupid” means to stop over thinking or over analyzing the probable outcome of the actions we know we should take, and just DO THE WORK now.
Pressfield in his no bullshit approach (maybe it’s a guy thing but I get a kick out of his “direct” method of communication) counsels us to develop the habit of acting more and thinking less.
We can always course correct if we need to. Not every action we take is going to work out perfectly, however the faster we find out, the faster we can move on to another course of action that will take us to our goal or dream.
What can you do to stay stupid this week?
Coach Mark,
Thought for the week: ”Stay stupid and expect Success”.
Mark Hudon, CFP™, CCS™
Financial Fitness Coach, Certified Cash Flow Specialist™
Creator of The Core Conditioning Program™
Check out our exciting new Website, Radio Show, & Cash Flow Planning tools:
https://financiallyfitforlife.ca/
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/financially-fit-for-life/
http://cashflow-specialist.com/
by admin | Jun 28, 2015 | 52 Week Accountability Challenge
Are you living with a Sense of Urgency?
Welcome to week 26 of our Core Conditioning Program Accountability Challenge. It’s hard to believe that it’s been six months since we embarked on our challenge together.
I hope you have been enjoying the process and that you remain committed to achieving the goals that you identified as being most important to you.
If you are finding that yourprogress is slower than you desire, then I have an idea that I think might get you moving in the right direction.
It’s as simple and as challenging as creating a compelling sense of urgency.
What does creating a sense of urgency mean to you?
To me it means having a reason or set of reasons that are strong enough to overcome all of the forms of Resistance that will naturally attempt to hold us back.
I was having coffee with a friend of mine recently and he shared a story that served as the inspiration for this week’s message. He asked me if I had ever heard of the Burning Platform story. I replied that I hadn’t.
He shared the riveting story of a worker on an oil rig somewhere along the English coast of the North Atlantic. He awoke one morning to find the oil rig engulfed in flames and black smoke. The platform that he was standing on was burning.
He quickly assessed his situation which had dramatically gone from desperate to disastrous. Here he was, perched precariously 120 feet above the frigid waters of the Atlantic –he could choose to jump which would most likely result in an outcome featuring drowning, grave injury and probable death or he could choose to do nothing and wait for the inevitable.
What would you do?
He chose to jump. Miraculously, he survived the 120 foot plunge into the icy waters, while the rest of his crew perished aboard the rig.
He was asked what possessed him to make the decision to jump. He replied that although jumping from a height of well over 100 feet would likely result in his probable death, staying where he was guaranteed him certain death. Faced with these two options and an obvious sense of urgency he chose the path that at least gave him a chance at survival.
Isn’t this a wonderful story? I understand that the goals that we set for our lives do not normally take us on a path of life or death decisions….However…
Can you imagine the progress that you will make toward your goals in life if you choose to live with a similar sense of urgency?
If not now, when?
Mark,
Thought for the week: ” If not now, when”? Hillel
Mark Hudon, CFP™, CCS™
Financial Fitness Coach, Certified Cash Flow Specialist™
Creator of The Core Conditioning Program™
Check out our exciting new Website, Radio Show, & Cash Flow Planning tools:
https://financiallyfitforlife.ca/
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/financially-fit-for-life/
http://cashflow-specialist.com/
