Fall in Love with the PROCESS! Fall in Love with the GRIND!
They say that you have to love what you do in order to be successful in anything in life. That if you want it badly enough, you will achieve it. It can't be that simple…or is it?
We can all fall short of our goals despite our best intentions. This is particularly true in the health and fitness world. For me, I’ve learned there’s more to it than loving what you do. Wanting it badly enough is only half the battle.
Understanding what it means to have passion
Love is an intense emotion that can be the push to get you started. But love is just an emotion, and it’s fleeting. What happens when you’re faced with the reality of what it really takes to achieve your goals? That’s where passion comes in.
Unfortunately, the word passion is thrown around and it’s completely misunderstood. The word passion comes from the Latin root, Pati—which means to suffer or endure. The intense emotions of “love” or “wanting something badly” enough are just the first layers of passion…the first steps of an endless journey.
Getting to the second layer
For me, there were definitely times when I took a step back, looked at what I was doing, where I wanted to go and asked myself, were my actions going to help me get there?
So I went back and reexamined my goals, and that helped me uncover that second layer of passion.
I encourage you to do the same.
Goals are often centered around losing weight or looking better. We will pledge to “lose 30 pounds” or be able to fit into a particular size. Or we will aim to be able to do 20 push ups in a row or run a 5 minute mile.
These are all great goals that will provide you with short term motivation but ultimately, focusing on these benchmarks is not enough for the long haul as they don’t help guide your behavior. What we need to focus on is our everyday habits. And that starts with asking yourself:
Who do you want to be?
Asking yourself who you want to be means focusing on everyday behaviors that support that identity. Instead of focusing on losing 30 pounds, commit to being a calisthenics athlete. This entails developing the habits of a calisthenics athlete—for example, doing your push ups, pull ups, body squats, etc. every day. The key is to start with baby steps and building on them over time.
That’s when I fell in love with the process. I fell in love with the grind. I found a passion for what I was doing… and that helped me push on to reach my goals.
I encourage you to also take a step back and reevaluate your own process. I’ve learned that all results are a byproduct of our every day actions and habits, and that’s when the passion begins.