Did you ever find yourself in a situation where, after so much hard work, you end up feeling like you’ve just passed a phase, overcome a fear or just moved on in your life? It’s what you get when you pass your comfort zone. It allows you to replenish what you thought was empty and useless in you and you get this feeling that everything suddenly has a value. You wake up in the morning feeling yourself, feeling like the person you dreamed about being a few years ago. Let me tell you how to get there in the first place, and what it gives you in the second.
The first thing you must do is acknowledge the reality of where you stand now. May it be in your work, in your sports life, where have you ever gotten to? What demanded the most effort? Is it this certain training, is it this subject in school? Now that you’ve figured that out, you need to go beyond it.
It’s not going to be a one time thing, it’s a process. And you’re here to enjoy it, so be excited about it. Everyday you’ll have to do a little bit more than what you did yesterday, and on the long term you would have advanced so much, without over doing it or tiring yourself, because that’s not the point here. Imagine it’s a subject you have a hard time studying or undersanding. The key is to study as you did before (if the method is the one for you), and the day after, take 10minutes to do a little extra, like watch a youtube video to summarize the notion, or explain it to someone (or just to a blank wall). Without noticing, you’ll not only understand more, but you’ll force yourself to develop links in your brain, improving your memory, and knowing where you stand.
Having a person to look up to in great, it’s inspiring and motivating. But there’s always a distance or a gap between your life and his/her’s. Don’t fool yourself thinking that what makes that person be who he/she is will define you. Understand and take the time to see what you truly want, don’t waste your time lying to yourself by thinking tha if this person is happy this way, you will be too. You’re unique, so your hapiness depends on different things; find those things and go after them, not after someone else’s. You’ll be honestly satisfied once you complete what you’re destined for, and only you know that. Of course, that little something you can only find it out of your comfort zone, it’s a challenge, so go get it.
Why do all this? Why push myself for something so hard? For many reasons, and defining yourself is one of them. Completing this challenge is giving you the opportunity and the chance to say « I am », and that’s special. Of course it’s easy to say it, but the pride you’ll have by saying it and truly knowing it, is a whole different story. Acing a test, or doing 10k under 30min is allowing you to say « I am the one who aced this test », and most importantly « I’m ready for what’s coming next ». Achieving something like this may sound superficial to others, and people might even say it’s not that big of a deal, but don’t ever define yourself ad your values according to them, because only you know what you’ve gone through to overcome this step. You passed a phase, you finally made it, it’s you.
It’s always hard to see the truth when you could easily lie to yourself out of it. Challenging yourself, doing a little more that what you did yesterday is hard because you might not even know what you’re even getting in to, if it’s your first time. Is it worth it? Well, as I said, no one can tell you, but yourself. The fact that you even considered it means it does have some worth, so take the time to question it (or not, just do it!). Go beyond your limits and out of your excuses/lies or anything that holds you back. Face reality, it’s what gets you somewhere, and it’s so rewarding.
You probably already understood this, but think about it. Is there anything better than achieving your goal, and heading home alone or with family and friends to celebrate? Congratulating yourself while sipping champagne and thinking about all those hard moments you overcame, maybe you cried, maybe you were in pain and suffered, but you did it for yourself, and that’s what counts the most. Your life is made to have ups and downs, and we often say that when there’s a downhill an uphill is coming, well be courageous enough to get in that downhill and overcoming your fears. The uphill/reward will only be better.
Only then, when you’re satisfied, you’ll actually see that your perfection lies in you and it’s just a matter of having the strengh to reveal it. Perfection is subjective, it’s unique, it’s not what you see on posters or in other people’s lives. It’s you. It’s the best version of yourself, and I hope now you know what you to get to it.