When The Going Gets Tough!

Before I joined the Army, the furthest I’d run was across the street to play or catch the bus. During my first 2 mile run, I realized I really didn’t like running. In fact, I despised it! However, I set a goal to improve my running. Over my 20 year career, I improved my run time and sometimes actually enjoyed running. How did I transition from despising to enjoying running? The answer is simple, but hard to do. I had to push through the messy middle to achieve my goal.

So how are you doing on achieving the goals you established at the beginning of the year? It has almost been two months and some of you are entering the messy middle. So how, you may ask, does one move through the messy middle? Well, you go back to the beginning, back to what was your compelling “why”?

Why did you want to lose weight, earn more money, change jobs, earn your college degree, or improve your run time? You know what they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going; but only if you know why you are going!

In his program 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever, Michael Hyatt offers a five step goal setting process designed help you experience significant growth while achieving your goals. Hyatt points out we must have a compelling “why” in order to achieve a breakthrough. Effective goals move us outside our comfort zone and Hyatt gives four reasons why. We move out to:

1. Experience happiness
2. Grow as a person
3. Overcome fear
4. Inspire and influence others

If you can answer these questions, when the going gets tough you will be ready. Your compelling “why” is the key to achieving your goals. To improve my run time, I had to spend a lot of time running. To push through the pain, I found my compelling why.

Where are you on your journey? Have you identified your “why”? Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going because they know why!

Take care,
Kim