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I’ll never forget the day I wrote in my journal three big goals I wanted to achieve.
I was inspired to start writing out my goals after listening to an Ed Mylett podcast interview.
I spent the previous six years focusing solely on being a mom, giving very little attention to who I was outside of that role.
Being a stay at home mom was a dream come true for me, but I was ready to spend more time uncovering my identity outside of mom life.
There were three very specific goals I wrote down that I wanted to accomplish.
I had no conceivable time frame for reaching them and honestly they seemed completely out of the realm of possibility, but I wrote them anyway.
RELATED POST: The Power of Writing Your Goals
So I wrote down the biggest goals I could conceive of at the time:
enter a fitness competition
start a blog
write a book
I looked at the goals everyday, but quite honestly I had no idea where to start.
Was I supposed to just pick one and go for it? The thought of running toward any of these goals was absolutely terrifying!
Then while having a casual conversation about my goals, someone said to me, “well you know you have to pick one and start working towards it.”
Suddenly, my fear was staring me dead in the face.
I knew he was absolutely right. It simply wasn’t enough to just write the goals! I actually had to take action and move towards them.
This led me to a fork in the road and I decided to go for the goal that scared me the most: entering a bodybuilding competition as a bikini competitor.
I was no stranger to the gym, but actually getting on stage in a bikini in front of tons of people after having two kids?
Did I have what it takes to be disciplined and regimented enough for this?
Would I make a complete fool out of myself on stage?
These questions and a million others ran through my mind.
As fate would have it I came across a bikini competitors page on Instagram and she was offering fitness coaching. Before I could talk myself out of it, I contacted her and we decided to work together.
The next thing I know I was knee deep in macro counting, weighing my food, and a fitness routine that required me to be in the gym 7 days a week by 5am on the weekdays because it was the only time I could fit it into my schedule.
Which leads to the first lesson competing taught me about life.
Lesson #1: Action breeds confidence & courage
If there is one thing I love more than anything it’s to plan! I am a quintessential Type A personality that used to obsess over controlling every outcome.
Yet, after listening to dozens of podcasts I started to realize the most successful people in the world don’t have all the answers figured out going into a new venture.
They typically have a goal in mind, an idea on how to make that goal a reality, and then they take immediate action toward that goal.
Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, often fail to make their dreams a reality because they get stuck in analysis paralysis.
Wasting time and energy analyzing every piece of information and possible outcome often leads to a failure to make any progress.
I was guilty of this in the past; however, I decided I would listen to the advice of those who were successful and trust the process. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
The eight months leading up to the competition were the most mentally and physically challenging months I had ever experienced.
There were a ton of different logistics to figure out along the way. But month by month, week by week, it all came together.
I had never even been to a bodybuilding competition before, so it was all completely new to me. But with the dedication and discipline I poured into it, I learned everything I needed to know with each passing month.
Had I tried to figure everything out beforehand, I would have been so overwhelmed I would have decided not to go for it!
Lesson #2: Discipline is your greatest ally
Prior to the competition I would have considered myself to be driven and hard-working. However, there is nothing quite like competition prep to see what you’re truly capable of.
This type of discipline was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Like I said, my fitness plan consisted of working out 7 days a week for 1.5-2.5 hours a day while following a strict diet.
I didn’t have any prior experience tracking macros or weighing food so that was a learning curve in and of itself.
I also woke up at 4-430am during the week in order to get to the gym before my husband would leave for work.
It was one of the toughest and most rewarding things I had ever done.
I am so grateful for the experience because it showed me the true power of discipline and just how much we can endure if we simply put our minds to it.
The discipline I developed over those eight months were absolutely transformational.
I learned that self-discipline is the foundation for success. It’s the bedrock upon which all your positive habits will rest.
“Just as self-discipline is the key to success, the lack of self-discipline is the major cause of failure, frustration, under-achievement, and unhappiness in life.”
Lesson #3: Feel the fear and do it anyway
Facing fears is probably the hardest thing for most people. We have so much fear around life that it prevents us from taking action and realizing our dreams.
When I contemplated the competition, I feared so many things. I feared getting on stage, I feared what it would require of me physically in the gym, I feared failure and embarrassment.
The fear was overwhelming, but I refused to let it stop me. I kept telling myself, “if you can overcome this fear, you can accomplish anything you want in the future.”
We have to understand fear is our brain’s way of keeping us safe.
Our brains are designed to keep us safe, not to help us evolve and grow.
It’s our responsibility to override the thoughts that we should run from fear and move toward it instead. Fear is simply an illusion. Most of what we fear never happens anyway.
When you feel fear remind yourself that it is nothing more than: False, Evidence, Appearing, Real. Each time you feel the fear and do it anyway you are building confidence.
This confidence and belief in yourself will give you the power to accomplish anything you want in life.
final thoughts
You have what it takes to live your dreams and fulfill your potential. Begin taking action, any form of action, even the smallest step is better than inertia.
Face fear dead in its tracks and go for the thing that scares you the most. Keep reminding yourself that fear is only an illusion, what’s the worst that can happen?
You need to develop discipline if you want to achieve big things. You have to be able to sacrifice what is pleasurable in the moment for what will benefit you long term.
What fears are holding you back? Let me know in the comments below.
