MOVE: October 18, 2013

Climbing the Mountain

I've been waiting for this week to come.....October 15th to be exact.....at first, not so enthusiastically because it represents months of hard work, but now, right on schedule, I'm excited it's here. The key part of that statement (and maybe a bit shocking to some who might not expect it) is "at first, not so enthusiastically".  See, this week is the formal beginning of training, my time to get back in my groove and start the path back up my personal mountain, baby-step by baby-step.  It's a path that will ultimately take 9-10 months, and will culminate in (hopefully) 10-12 hours of hard work.  It's a path that sounds terrible to many, but it's the mountain I'm setting out to climb......and, after two and 1/2 months to think about it and get my mind ready, it's time to get my body on board......and I'm excited about it.  

In our work at Pro-Activity we're often asked by clients about motivation; whether it be to exercise more or to eat better or to get the desperately needed extra hour of sleep or, in some cases, how to be motivated to take the time required to work the safe way, the topic of conversation often circles back to motivation.....how to get it, and more importantly perhaps, how to keep it over the long haul.  This is a tricky question for sure.  Partly because we don't believe that we're in the motivation business.....it's just not something that we have any special expertise in. But perhaps more importantly, because motivation is such an intensely personal thing.  What motivates me could be ENTIRELY DIFFERENT than what motivates the next person......something that resonates loudly enough with you to make you take action (an internal "call to arms"), might just blow past the next person like a gentle whisper, barely audible.  Truly, motivation is a tricky business. When I get this line of questioning I often find myself committing the communication crime of answering a question with a question:

"If you had no barriers [nothing: not time, nor money, nor physical limitations] that stood in your way, what is something on your bucket-list, either currently or when you were a kid, that you would be most proud of accomplishing?"

Some people resist at first, but with a couple of prodding "go-ahead, what would it be?" type questions, a smile usually creeps across their face and they say something truly adventurous.....I've heard "I'd hike the Appalachian Trail " and "I'd safari in Africa and summit Mt. Kilimanjaro", I've heard "I'd backcountry ski" and "I'd climb Tourmalet" (one of the Tour de France's more difficult ascents).  I am often inspired by how specific and vivid people's descriptions are......like they've thought it all through, every detail of what it would be like and not only can they see it, but they can hear it, feel it and sometimes even smell it.  After a minute or two most everyone starts to come back down to earth, but it's fun to see their spirit well up inside them, like the little kid inside is bubbling up to the surface.  

It's usually then that I find myself saying something like "that sounds awesome......and I can tell by the level of detail and excitement that you can totally see yourself doing it.......pause..........seems to me that you have all the motivation you need.....what you don't have is a plan that'll ever get you there."

Every adventure started somewhere, every great achievement had a "kick-off" or a "start-date".  Starting today is not always the best start-date, many times, we do better when we prepare to start by getting organized and getting our heads in the game.  You may not even realize you're doing it.....but just like me, you are.  Many people do it every week, the day before the work week starts.....maybe Sunday afternoon, preparing for the week ahead.  Some do it in reverse, preparing for the weekend......and some, believe it or not, do it with their health, preparing for their "on-season".......until one day, it starts.

We're here when you're ready to plan your next ascent.

Have a great weekend,

Mike E.