Success in Life–Conviction: “You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.”

A great way to start todays blog is with a  quote in the title above from C.S. Lewis.  What is Conviction:  A firmly held belief or opinion of what it is you want above all else.  How enthusiastic are you about your goals?  Do you just sit back and wait for something to fall in your lap and happen, or do you go all out in order to try and achieve it?  Conviction gives you what you sincerely want, but to achieve it, you must be willing to take the “plunge”, and go after it.  “If you work with steadfast determination and conviction for long enough, you will achieve your goals.”  ( Poissant and Godefrey, 1994, p247.)

“Conviction is obtained through our belief system.  A resolve within oneself that banishes all doubt despite the challenges faced”:–(Smash!  Fit for Kids)    Here I am at the start of the Disney Marathon.  All kinds of self doubts going through my head.  Am I ready for this?  Have I done enough to prepare myself?  Does my time really matter?  Then you have to keep telling yourself:  I matter…to me! I love this quote from Henry Ford:  ”  I refuse to recognize that there are impossibilities.  I cannot discover that any one knows enough about anything or anyone to say what is and what is not possible.  Therefore, if you have the belief to achieve, then you will find the conviction to reach your goals regardless of what somebody else has to say.”

We not only make a difference to ourselves, but to others who see what we do.  Use this as motivation for yourself as well.  Who may be looking up to you?  Who is watching what you do, and think that if somebody sees what you do, maybe they can too?  Ask your self these questions frequently.  1.)  Why should someone be influenced by me?  2.)  What’s the extra value I provide once they are?  3.)  Why should I be influenced by me? (take from Ron Willingham of “Integrity selling”)  Lead by example!   Nothing is more powerful when encouraging others!

There will be good days and bad days.  They will be days when you are tired.  Don’t quit on yourself—the reward is too good.  Believe in yourself!  You must have confidence in both yourself and your plan—whatever your plan may entail going forward about how you can take care of yourself; to be healthier!  Break your plan down.  Take it is small increments.  How fast you achieve things is not a contest.  Slow is good!  Hold on to your convictions, and be enthusiastic about them.  Look at the enthusiasm we are all having in the first picture getting ready to go for a run.  Why?  Because we want to!  Because we can!  Someday we won’t be able to.  Today is not that day!

Don’t ever forget this!  Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day #:  3019

Success in Life–Passion! Where What You Want To Do Is One With What You Do!

What is your Passion?  What is it that makes you happy, or is truly a part of you?  Maybe the better question is, How is Passion defined?   One definition I found defined it as the following:   strong inclination or desire toward a self-defining activity that one likes (or even loves), that one finds important (high valuation), and in which one invests time and energy.  What is more important is when this remains under the individuals control.  This occurs when the person views their activity as part of their identity.

Now, how do you find that Passion?  For many of us, we may even be looking too hard.  Listen to yourself, as much of this will come naturally.  One quote by Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold state: “Discovering your passion will ignite the fire and fan the flames of your dreams and desires.  Living your passion will put the world on notice that you are different.  Different because your life is more purposeful, fulfilling, joyous, and exciting.  Passion provides you with the best possible odds to successfully catch and live your dream.”  How else can you enjoy something so much, and yet have fun with it?  This is what exercise, and in particular running, does for me.  It is part of me, and allows me to try and bring that same feeling to you.  And, you need to have fun doing it!

To succeed in life, you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality.  Look inside ourselves…it is there.  We all have something we have a likeness for, something to believe in…our Passion!  For me, the thing that makes this even better is someone to have along side you with the same desire and passion…my life partner…my wife Sarah!

Keep focused!  Never stop!  Make our passion reality!  The last quote I have here sums it up better than anything!

 

Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day #:  3012

Success in Life–Determination!  Getting It Done No Matter What!

Success in Life–Determination! Getting It Done No Matter What!

A quote by Vince Lombardi:  “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”  How determined are you?  How focused are you on achieving what you want?   The look on our faces a lot of times will tell how determined we can be.  It starts here…determine you are going to do something, then going after it to achieve it no matter what.

Some of us can be inspired by watching others, and some of us get help by direct encouragement from others.  These are helpful in achieving our goals, but if we don’t have that underlying determination ourselves of going after something, then we still won’t end up getting very far.  We have discussed before having our goals in mind, writing them down, then putting our head down, and going for it.  We are in the driver seat.  We determine what course we are going to take.  We determine in our mind where we want to go.

“Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”  This is determined by us…DETERMINATION!

Above you will see a picture of Nick running in Track.  I think this is a perfect example of that look of determination on somebody’s face when they are working towards something, and nothing is going to get in their way.  You will see below one of me with Chris…Chris is determined to run a half marathon this coming year, and I have not doubt she will achieve it.  She has come a long way the past few years already when it comes to running and exercise.  Her biggest obstacle is between her ears!  Confidence comes with time, and will be a subject of another topic in this series later.  I also have listed 2 quotes below, the first one being the definition of Determination:  A fixed purpose, the power and will to persist, resolve, to have the drive, to have the grit, to go the distance, to be hell-bent on reaching a goal and getting it done no matter what!  Determination is the difference between making the impossible, possible!  Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day #:  3005

 

Success in Life–Commitment! Consecutive Exercise Day 3000!

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Who would have thought that back on September 26, 2007 when I challenged myself to see how many days in a row I could exercise without stopping, that I would still be going!  Well, today is consecutive exercise day #3000!  There were many times when I did not think I was going to be able to keep it going.  This includes both physical and mental challenges.  Overall, the biggest obstacle has been the mental challenges.  I was determined to see how long I could keep this streak going…after all, my main reason was for my family.  I want to take care of myself, and be around longer to spend time with them.

To me, this is where true commitment arises from.  There were many days where I could have thought of a lot of other things I would have rather been doing.  Nothing though, was as tough as that first year.  Once I got past this, it truly has become a habit.  It is part of my routine.  It is now part of me!  I found one quotation that I think really sums up the meaning of commitment:

commitment 2 digital

Bull’s eye!  Nothing can say it any better than this!  We all have times when we try to make a commitment, only to lose sight of it amid all of the other challenges of life.  This is where we truly have to keep focused on what we were trying to accomplish in the first place, and WHY!  Then keep looking back at those reasons, and stay focused.  Stay committed!  I wear a garmin watch when I run to help keep track of my pace and mileage, and I found a great T-shirt at one of the marathon expos–

dan garmin digital

“If you see me collapse, pause my garmin.”  Great line if you are a runner!  I am going to keep going as long as I have control over the situation.  It has been fun, challenging, and above all–worthwhile!

Commitment 3 digital

I made a commitment to keep my consecutive exercise streak going for as long as I could, with the main driving force being to take care of myself and my health to the best of the my ability.  My promise was to be around for my family longer!  This commitment is what is helping me transform a promise into reality!  I don’t know when it will end, but I will just keep doing my thing one day at a time, and enjoying the ride!  This is helping me become a success in life!  Commitment!   Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day #:  3000!

 

 

Success in Life–Purpose! Dare to Dream, Dream to Dare

family exercise group digital

Authors Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold stated “Dare to Dream, Dream to Dare” when they were discussing about our future.  They wrote that dreams are your creative vision, a way to explore, expand, and redefine the infinite possibilities of your life.  What is our true purpose in life?  As we are all individuals, this answer can be different for every one of us.  What do you want out of life?  What is important to you?  Do you only “dream” about those things, or do you actively try to do something about it in order to make that dream a reality.  It is up to each one of us to determine this.  Sit down and think about this:  What is your purpose?  This is the time when you really do need to sit somewhere quiet, and really think about it.

chair and lake 2

Where is that place for you?  Home?  Work?  In the park?  By the Lake?  It does not matter where, but you have to make it where it is a time for you to reflect on your dreams.  Ignore any pressure placed on you by other people, or obligations.  You have one life, and there is only one you!  What do you want?  And why do you want it?  You have heard me before state that everything I do in relation to staying active is so I will be around longer for my family.  I want to spend time with them.  Live life with them.  Appreciate all the adventures that go along with this.

active family digital

Use your imagination.  Be creative.  Write it down, and create a log, not only an exercise log, but an idea log, and then keep referring back to it to remind yourself of that purpose.  Do you want to make a difference?  And if so, for you, or somebody else?  Once you have that idea of purpose, then the rest is up to you.  How are you going to work towards it?  What is it worth to you?  Is it realistic?  You have the power to make it happen.  Dig deep…it is in you somewhere.  If you need to, think about it some more.

running and thinking

Take the time to think!  In this busy, crazy world, unless we are going 100 mph all of the time, we don’t think we are accomplishing anything.  Sometimes going slow really is going fast!  You come up with a plan.  You need to see beyond the trees of the forest, and focus on what lies behind it!

sunset lake

Be creative!  The majority of times we are limited by our own minds.  “Dare to Dream…Dream to Dare!” I will leave you with two more quotes to ponder on.

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…and don’t limit yourself to just one thing!

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Good luck!  Keep moving everybody!

Dr. Dan

Consecutive Exercise Day #:  2998