Impossible is just a state of mind

I went to the gym earlier this evening and I noticed the resolution crowd is already starting to dwindle. Every year the first week of January has a huge draw of people. There are sign-up sheets to use some of the treadmills and stationary bikes. There is a sea of cars in the parking lot. It is louder and much more congested.

Of course people want to knock out their resolutions to be more healthy, lose weight and get in shape – the first week of January – and then move on to excuse making the rest of the year. Like clockwork, every year the same happens. What could be an annoying inconvenience with the large crowds of people chugging away on the equipment is decreased by the knowledge they will be gone in 3 weeks or less.

How about you? How are your resolutions going? Are you continuing down your chosen path? Or is your confidence fading? After two weeks doubt can start creeping into the thoughts. “The first week was great! But this week I don’t feel so good,” are normal. Like all great achievements, there is a weeding-out period. The weak must be separated from the strong. The “wheat from the chaff“.

So today I would like to appeal to your pride. Yes, step aside for a moment and let me talk to your ego.

Ok Mr. pride and Ms. ego, now that we’re alone, let me ask you!. What would it mean to you to be one of the few who makes it? What if the goal you have chosen is difficult, so difficult most people quit after two weeks, but you keep going? What does that say about you? Doesn’t that mean you are stronger than most?

And what about the negative thoughts that weed their way in? Can’t they motivate you even more? You could choose instead to welcome all the negative thoughts into your head. The more the merrier. Yes, let them all in as long as you do one simple task….show up and work your plan.

Look at it this way. You might think “this goal is impossible!” But if you simply show up and keep going, you will be doing the impossible. Again, what does that say about you? It might say you “chew up impossibilities and eat them for breakfast.” The negative challenges are part of the process – part of your life story.

What if there were no negative thoughts, no challenges? I’ll tell you…nobody will ever read your book! Nobody wants to read a book about how you climbed Mount Everest with the greatest of ease. “It wasn’t even cold” you say. “The air was fresh and clear..we even had a picnic on the top.” Makes for a boring story doesn’t it?

The challenges we inevitably face are part of our life stories. We can even learn to appreciate them as necessary to well-rounded success. We can record them in our journals, blogs, videos and tell them to our grandkids one day. So let the negativity come and make a note of it as you continue down your path. Your grandkids will thank you for it.