Journaling and Challenges
Friday, June 20, 2008
If you've been following me along this journey, you'll have noticed that I frequently ask you to write in your journal or ask you to carry out a challenge. Now maybe that irks you a little. After all, how can I understand just what it is you need? And how do I know where your level of progress is currently?
Well...I don't. That's why you'll notice that every time I ask you to do something, the specifics are up to you. For example, if I ask you to do something you're afraid of, what that is is entirely up to you. Maybe you're afraid of public speaking, maybe open spaces, maybe sky diving, maybe spiders; it could be anything. In fact, by causing you to make up the details, I'm forcing you to make executive decisions. Each one is supposed to be a way for you to grow personally.
By helping you to understand through action, I'm giving you a reason to grow personally. Maybe just that little request, that homework assignment, is going to make your day. Isn't that worth something?
To have, maybe just for one day, your dreams come true?
That's what it's all about.
My last term in high school, I took a weight training class. I scored record breaking lifts for my weight category and made tremendous improvements across the board. My cardio-physical condition improved to the best it had ever been, but didn't make any difference to me. What did?
I took the class with a friend of mine. When we began, he could do fewer than twenty pushups (and without a full range of motion) and no pullups at all. My one, single goal in that class was to have him do a pullup by the end of the class. Not only did he, but he also lost a great deal of fat, put on muscle and improved his fitness level and overall physique tremendously. Was that class a success in my mind? Beyond measure.
Was it his dream to improve like that? Maybe, we never talked about it. I do know that it led to him developing an interest in keeping fit and healthy. Maybe that's his dream now, I don't know.
Personal development is not an overnight process. You're not going to found a Fortune 500 company next week, not going to date a supermodel tomorrow, not going to visit the moon for the Fourth, but you are going to improve and that's what it's all about.
As long as you stay positive and try your best (and you will; those two are much easier than they may seem), your dreams will come true, every day of your life. Maybe one day, you ask out the girl of your dreams. The next, you stand up to that jerk in Accounting who always bullies you. The next, you help an old lady across the street and she repays you with true gratitude. It's all up to you.
Whatever you're going to be doing, each event will seem like a dream coming true and that's precisely what it's supposed to be.
Well...I don't. That's why you'll notice that every time I ask you to do something, the specifics are up to you. For example, if I ask you to do something you're afraid of, what that is is entirely up to you. Maybe you're afraid of public speaking, maybe open spaces, maybe sky diving, maybe spiders; it could be anything. In fact, by causing you to make up the details, I'm forcing you to make executive decisions. Each one is supposed to be a way for you to grow personally.
By helping you to understand through action, I'm giving you a reason to grow personally. Maybe just that little request, that homework assignment, is going to make your day. Isn't that worth something?
To have, maybe just for one day, your dreams come true?
That's what it's all about.
My last term in high school, I took a weight training class. I scored record breaking lifts for my weight category and made tremendous improvements across the board. My cardio-physical condition improved to the best it had ever been, but didn't make any difference to me. What did?
I took the class with a friend of mine. When we began, he could do fewer than twenty pushups (and without a full range of motion) and no pullups at all. My one, single goal in that class was to have him do a pullup by the end of the class. Not only did he, but he also lost a great deal of fat, put on muscle and improved his fitness level and overall physique tremendously. Was that class a success in my mind? Beyond measure.
Was it his dream to improve like that? Maybe, we never talked about it. I do know that it led to him developing an interest in keeping fit and healthy. Maybe that's his dream now, I don't know.
Personal development is not an overnight process. You're not going to found a Fortune 500 company next week, not going to date a supermodel tomorrow, not going to visit the moon for the Fourth, but you are going to improve and that's what it's all about.
As long as you stay positive and try your best (and you will; those two are much easier than they may seem), your dreams will come true, every day of your life. Maybe one day, you ask out the girl of your dreams. The next, you stand up to that jerk in Accounting who always bullies you. The next, you help an old lady across the street and she repays you with true gratitude. It's all up to you.
Whatever you're going to be doing, each event will seem like a dream coming true and that's precisely what it's supposed to be.
Labels: Challenge, Dream, Journal, Personal Development
