Find Your Fight

Do you ever feel like you FINALLY just got your head above water and someone shoves you right back under?

Maybe it is a setback after an injury, or illness after just getting better? Regardless, we all lose a little ambition sometimes. Our goals start slipping away and we drown them out with ice cream, alcohol, or something else. Before we know it, those days turn into weeks, which turn into months and years...and then we find ourselves on the couch wondering what happened?

Yup that sucks, but the mistake most make is that they think it’s too late. Now yes, you will probably not be a professional basketball player at 60 years old, but it doesn’t mean you can’t pivot, change, adjust your goals according to some new or old realistic ones.

So how does one go about “finding their fight.”

• First of all, one needs to realize that no matter how perfectly you try to execute life (races, challenges), there will be setbacks.

• Before you ask others, create two lists of your own. 1 with your strengths and 1 with your weaknesses. Hint: Don’t just focus on the weaknesses! It’s not cockiness to jot down the things you are proud of, but it can create confidence. Try some of these questions to best help you discover your strengths if they don’t pop out at you:

What am I good at?

What have others complimented me about?

What have others had to help me with on more than one occasion?

Which projects and tasks seem to drain my energy?

Which projects have I spent hours on without getting tired?

What are my hobbies, and why do I like doing them

• Then reach out. Don’t go to that friend you know who always puts you down, or has something to say about the “so and so’s”... go to a trusted, reliable friend who will give you the honest truth (so this excludes your grandma too because she is probably too sweet to tell you how it really is..well unless you are my grandma :) Love you grandma!). Compare lists!

• Try some new and old things! Take notes on what you like, dislike, if you like it because you are good at it. If you don’t because you aren’t, etc… Here are just a few!

Fishing, Skating, Ceramics Class, Sewing, Yoga, 5k, and/or Rugged Running’s Crafty Kitchen cook class :)

• Now let's go a little deeper. Find your “why.” Why would you want to do this or that? Or why would you not want to do anything at all? Growing as a person can be nerve-wracking, exciting, emotional all at the same time!

• Ever heard of “do something that scares you..” yeah you should!!! Getting outside of your comfort zone is where personal growth happens! It is not failing if you don’t try... If you try you are already accomplishing something! So what scares you? Is it something like taking the leap to do that marathon? Or even just picking up the phone to call an old friend? All of this is growth... Some are simple and take little time, money, and effort and others are bigger that will be a bit more demanding.

• Sit yourself down and consider taking small steps to address your weaknesses. And combine those with your strengths to take those larger steps to goals YOU CAN accomplish.

• Finally, Don’t forget that Insecurity can kill your confidence. You need to work on your mental game too. Some simple homework to do is first to identify lies with truth/facts. “Well, my dad was that way so that is just how I am too. It runs in the family.” or “My mom was never that smart or educated so that’s where I get it from.” That would be BS! Aka not true!!! Even gene expression can be altered people! So now that you are weeding out the negatives and writing those down, counter them with the truth! “ I won’t ever be that fast.” / “yes I can be if I train correctly, consider a holistic approach, and stay consistent!”

So get out there and FIND YOUR FIGHT!!! You owe it to yourself... Your family and friends… “Give the world the best of you not what is left of you.”