Focus on Winning the Battles and not the War!

Over the past month I have found myself in a bad space sporting wise, but I am slowly but surely pulling myself out of a rut that many of us fall into and which often threatens to derail our best laid plans and goals. The big Quesytion is How?

Dream Big, but focus on winning the daily Battles (journey) and not the War (destination)!

When one sets lofty goals, they often become very daunting and one cannot see the wood for the trees. I have some very ambitious goals, but I, like many of you, have my low points, my doubting moments and when this is coupled with an injury crisis or training partners who are absent it can cause me to lose focus, to become demotivated and to fall into a rut, where the seesaw swings and the wants outweigh the needs.

So here I was on this downward spiral, little or no training being done while I enjoyed the comforts of a warm duvet in the mornings and the comforts of good movies in the late afternnon. To add to my woes I went on a chocolate and carrot cake binge and my midriff started to swell and my clothes were becoming tighter and for a while I could do nothing about it, partly because I was depressed and partly because I was focussing on the ‘war’ which I was busy losing.

At this moment in time it was all too daunting for me, you see I feel the pressures too, the pressure of expectation, the pressure of being a sponsored athlete, the pressure of aspiring for a Podium placing in Kona, the pressure of an unwanted injury and mentally the bricks all came falling down for a few weeks and I felt helpless. But life is sometimes like that, almost like that silly game we played as kids called ‘Snakes and Ladders’, as just when you think you are making it, you land on a ‘snake’ and fall back ten paces. When you are in a good space mentally getting back on the Ladder isn’t too difficult, but life is not always fair and sometimes you find yourself a little weaker mentally.

So that’s where I have been, but last week I decided to revisit a few basics (which I seemed to reteach myself while doing a talk to the Kings Rugby Academy). I decided to stop focussing on the destination (World Champs) and more on the journey, or the day to day challenges or Battles. I set myself a few very small and very achievable goals and focussed upon a very short period, as I needed to swing the momentum, break the bad habits and get back into some better habits.

Most of you may think what is this guy thinking…. a 10 Day Challenge of exercising once/day and not having a chocolate for 10 days, surely anybody can do that?

Well truth be told anybody can do it if that is what you focus upon, but for a couple of weeks I could not because I was focussing on trying to Win the War and as a result I was losing life’s daily challenges or Battles. Strangely enough as soon as I started this little 10 Day Challenge (today is Day 6) and started focussing on winning the daily Battles, I am getting my mojo back and am well on my way to enjoying the journey.

I already feel better when looking in the mirror, not at my waistline (which will trim down in time) but looking into my own eyes and asking myself “Did you achieve your Goals for today? Did you make a forward move or a backward one? Did you win today’s Battles?” When I can also those questions honestly and with a resounding YES, then I know I am back on track and loving it!

If you are thinking of chasing a Dream, setting a Goal beware of focussing upon winning the War, rather focus on trying to win the daily Battles, because if you take it step by step, the Steps become Days, the Days become Weeks, the Weeks become Months then Years and before you know it an extraordinary transormation will have occured and you will have won the War!

For more on achieving your Dreams, see the links below:

http://ironmansa.com/2012/05/01/how-to-achieve-your-dreams/

http://plantoretire.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/habits-the-good-the-bad-and-the-possibilities/

Scott Rigsby’s 5 Key Steps to achieving the Unthinkable:

Scott Rigsby suggests that you contemplate the 5 key steps that he took to cross his finish line and transform his/the world.

1.       Have a Dream:

Nothing can happen until you have something big in your heart that drives you. Your dream is yours alone and it doesn’t matter whether or not the dream seems attainable right now. In fact, searching for your dream may be a process you need to go through before it is fully revealed.  Whatever the path, you must be willing to try and you will know you’re on the right course when that dream becomes bigger than yourself. It will become your passion. Just spend some time thinking about what you’d really love to achieve, and pray For God to begin the process of discovery for you by opening new doors.

2.       Build a Good Support Team:

Big dreamers take big risks and going it alone means almost certain failure. Your support team doesn’t have to include your family, and it may not even include your friends. Find people who can help you on your journey and then ask them to join you. You’d be surprised how often people will step up to help someone achieve a dream. Don’t be afraid to approach the people you admire and ask them for advice or help along the way. If they don’t know you need help, they can’t help you. In my case, finding my support team actually became part of the journey. When you’re doing the unthinkable, those in your camp actually share in the journey with you.

3.       Choose Faith over Fear:

In every situation, you can choose to make decisions out of either faith or fear. We all play self-defeating mind games that define our thinking and perceptions of ourselves and others. When I started my Ironman journey, I had no money and no experience. I was overweight, too old and going through difficult relationship issues. What it all boils down to is that poor self-image and personal negativity are really just expressions of our own fears. Fear is the leading cause of the death of our dreams. The only antidote I know is to choose faith. Faith will lead you to face your fears and point you straight to the core of how to withstand the doubt and uncertainty. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

4.       Expect and Overcome Obstacles:

Anything worth doing will present some challenges; otherwise you’d have done it already! However, no matter how much faith you exhibit, the ‘day of trouble’ will come. According to Jeremiah 16:19, that is precisely when God becomes our strength, our fortress and our refuge. Expect that you’re going to face some difficulties along the way, plan for how you are going to address them mentally and physically, and commit to reaching your goal in spite of them. There will days when you won’t feel like putting in the effort, or the conditions may be such that you want to give up. Those are the days when you must push past the fear or pain, for it is the strength you have gained during those days of difficulty that you will rely on when the unanticipated obstacles appear. Training breeds perseverance and instills confidence that you will be able to move past the obstacles, no matter what.

5.       Cross your Finish Line:

Somewhere along your journey, you envisioned what the experience was going to be like when you approached your finish line. Your dream may have taken months, years, or decades to achieve, but the finish line is always there for you to cross. If your mission is truly ‘unthinkable’, then your finish line will be characterized by the following truths:

*Your ‘unthinkable’ finish line was originally inconceivable and unimaginable.

*The line that you must cross cannot be moved closer in or lowered to make it easier.

*Pursuit of your goal will scare you out of your comfort zone.

*Your goal will cause you to doubt yourself, and others will tell you that your goal is crazy.

*The mountain you must climb will be taller than anything you have ever done.

*You will experience many setbacks and failures on your way to success.

Your finish line is where you placed it, and once you get there, you may find that it was the experience of getting there that has made you stronger and more capable of taking on additional finish lines.

You might even find, as I did, that your dream becomes a mission and your mission changes the world. I wish you all the best in living your own ‘unthinkable’ dreams.

Extract from Scott’s book, Unthinkable, pages 251-254: Author Jenna Glatzer