Who do you want to be tomorrow?
This was one of the things that I would ask myself when I was training for my last power lifting competition. My biggest fear had nothing to do with missing a lift. My biggest fear was that I would wake up the day after and think “I didn’t go for it.” My goal for that competition had nothing to do with the result, it was simply: Put 100% effort into each day leading up to training, so that the day of I knew that I stepped onto that platform with absolutely no regret. I didn’t want to step on the platform and think of a day during training when I didn’t give 100%. When it was a 5 rep max day, I would ask myself “Who do you want to be tomorrow?” I never wanted to be someone who left a training session and not be proud of the effort I put in.
I’ve always said that one of my core values is being hard-working/goal oriented. But as I was writing this today, I kept going back and forth between those words; only to find what I really meant was discipline.
Core value #2: Discipline
Practicing discipline EVERYDAY is how I improve. Discipline to the goal and the daily choices I make is the only way I can make any progress toward a goal. The work toward the goal is in my control, and I can’t be mad or blame anyone, but myself if I don’t make the goal. Discipline is something I am trying to practice in all aspects of my life: financially, career, fitness, relationships etc… I have specific goals in all of these areas and practicing daily discipline everyday has helped me reach these goals. And one of the best feelings in the world is checking a goal off the list. And then sitting down and writing a new goal and giving myself a new challenge is so exciting to me. In practicing daily discipline, I have found that reaching the goal not as full-filling as one might think. To me, reaching the goal is the period at the end of the story. The work, that’s the part I love. That’s the real story. Knowing that when I go to sleep at night, I added more to my story. The goal is just a goal. A goal without work is just a sentence you wrote down.
I want to be around hard-working individuals who are bettering themselves and the world around them. People who are willing to give up the immediate gratification for the long-term payout. People who will make hard choices because they know the reward will be worth it. People who are willing to put in the work. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. People who have grit. People who maximize their minutes and improve on themselves daily. The ones who make the daily choice to improve their lives. People who ask: is what what I am doing RIGHT NOW going to get me to the person I want to be in 5 years?
So what does it mean to be hard working? I will tell you right now, hard work is not quantitative; it’s qualitative. There is no set amount of hours that can determine hard work. I often hear people bragging about how many hours a week they work, or how many hours they spend putting into a project. That’s not necessarily hard work, that’s time. My measurement of hard work is one question: When I look at the things that are within my 100% immediate control: Did I do everything possible when working to reach this goal?
Individuals who are dedicated to disciple and the daily process of self-improvement are individuals who are active participants in their life. Maybe things aren’t going super well in their life, so they make the decision to change their story. They are the ones who are not reacting to what is happening to them; they are the ones who are making the hard choices everyday to get to where they want to be. So often, we just accept what is happening to us, to loved ones, to people in our community, to groups of people, and then we have bad attitudes and negativity and then we rant about it all of social-media. Being reactive does not solve problems and it doesn’t make the world better.
What is your goal? What does your ideal world look like? Now, go be dedicated to the daily process. Be disciplined to the work. EVERY. DAY.
There’s no greater feeling than knowing you put everything into the daily process. I was alone when I reached this goal, there was no audience cheering me on. Just me, putting in the work. I left that day, knowing there was no way I could put any more work into the day. It was one of the best days, not because of the result, but because of the work.
Because She Dared 