As my one person wellness collective is steamrolling along, I’m ever confronted with and continuously battling both my own and others’ limiting beliefs. In fact tackling limiting beliefs is a YUGE obstacle to success in so many of life’s endeavors. One of the greatest tools we have in our own personal journeys whether they be athletic, academic, spiritual or otherwise is the shift in focus from specific goals, to enjoyment of process. This has been critical in finding breakthroughs that are beyond limits. So I share new things because these are things that weren’t on my radar as things I wanted to do, but rather things I noticed that other people could do easily (they must just be more talented) and now I’m noticing I can do them as well. Most of the time it’s not through practicing the individual skill or movement, but by being more balanced overall, and finding and training weaknesses, in the rep ranges of difficult to easy and few reps to more reps.
If you think about it a goal is really a limit. It’s a place to stop. You hit your goal…now what? But goal setting is a valuable tool in business, athletic, and social spheres? I suppose I’m not saying never have goals then. But for me, having a goal of “practicing one extra day this week” is more valuable than saying “achieve a skill by the end of the week” or make “X amount of dollars by the end of the week.” Suppose I achieve the skill on day 1, I may be satisfied and not keep going for more. If I don’t achieve it in the allotted time then I’ve failed. Therefore, putting too specific or time sensitive goals doesn’t make as much sense as just trying to stay on track. If you’re making sales and making money, don’t stop when you’ve hit your quota. You’re on a roll. Keep going as there may be times where you’re stuck, and could use the extra money. If you’re dominating your sport and at the top, keep going to see how far you can go. Play as well as you can, rather than just better than your opponent. If you stop growing because the opponent is not challenging enough, someone is bound to catch you. You go until you maximize you, rather than just win the game.
I’ve specifically done this so many times to my detriment. I can trace a period of stagnation to an achievement that should have been a springboard to more rather than what it turned out to be-a finish line.
I put my eggs in one basket so to speak. I set a time for myself in a workout that I had never been able to hit. Once I hit that, I would be in the “best shape of my life” or so I thought. I put the dedicated work in, dialed in nutrition and at long last, I had done it! I had achieved my goal through hard work, patience and all out effort. I had hit the top of the figurative mountain. And that was the beginning of my problems, and the end of growth. From there, there was nothing left but down. And that’s what happened. My training slipped. I got complacent. I had a limiting view of what “best shape of my life” meant. Aquiring more skills, or strength no longer mattered. I had reached the top once, I could do it again. The problem is where is the next top? Some random workout or skill that I choose?
The truth is, the climb up the mountain IS THE TOP. Each step moving forward is the goal, and you never reach the top, because the “top” isn’t real. It’s a limit from which the only way back is down. If you set your goals on moving forward with each step then you never actually have to go back down. And that’s the goal. There’s always another skill, another rep, another inch another second to being the best that YOU can, rather than a self created goal or limit, or comparison to someone else.