With a wave of my hand, I signaled my husband to move well off the trail so as not to interfere with my ambition. I was intent to make it up a short, steep incline on my bike.
Like many mountain trails it was the width of a horse path and embedded with fist-sized rocks. I didn’t see the rocks from where I waited.
Off I went into the small ditch, gathering speed, then up and up . . . . . then down, down, . . . DOWN. I failed to navigate the rocks and slid down the slope with my bike on top of me and my head pointed downhill. Other than a bruise to my ego and a stiff neck I was unharmed.
We can never know all that lies ahead when we start out full of desire, confidence and ambition. And what about when we’re not so confident or ambitious? One little rock in the road and we might look for a detour, or give it all up.
As I had no choice but to brush myself off and keep going (we were in bear country, after all) that’s just what I did, with no mercy from the mountain. The long, slow incline that followed was unavoidable.
Seven Rules for Achieving Your Goals and Ambitions:
- Commit to your healthy lifestyle goals for life. It’s called “life”style for a reason. It’s about your life choices. Short term commitments, like with weight loss, can do more harm than good.
- Success is not a straight line. There will be ups and downs (hills and valleys) in your journey.
- Shoot for consistency versus perfection. And I don’t mean perfectly consistent.
- Ask for what you need. “Move out of my way,” or, “Help me get up.”
- Keep your eyes on the road with an occasional glance on the prize.
- Be really clear on the prize, or the end goal. But more importantly, be really clear on why you want what you want. That’s what keeps you moving forward.
- Take small steps. Every journey is made up of one small step after the other. Dramatic spills not required.
Never mind the rocks. Were we a little fearful of running into grizzlies? Of course we were! We saw three from our car so we knew it wasn’t just the stuff of travel brochures. We did what we needed to balance feeling safe while being able to enjoy exploring the mountains.
The prospect of weight loss, or many other goals, can feel just as threatening as bears in the bush. When you manage the fears and the threats to allow you to feel safe, along with the more obvious actions required, you stand a much better chance of making it up the rocky path.