Fighting to Find Your WHY

Your “why” is the something that motivates you, what motivates you is the fuel of your persistence.

Think back on all of the things you have accomplished in your life. College, job interviews, getting in shape, maybe an illness you overcame, a car you HAD to have, etc.

All of those things were or maybe ARE your why.

I can tell you what my why’s were and what they are now, briefly.

My first REAL why was getting a divorce from my now ex-husband. At the time (2003), I did what I had to do. I socked a way money every chance I got, I looked into half-way houses, ANYTHING to get me a way from him. As luck would have it, and God wanted it, my fate was at my Mom’s house and there I would stay for 7 years.

My next REAL why was getting better. In 2005 I had a massive chemical imbalance that was caused by both YEARS of stress and the wrong birth control pills. That why was to stay alive, which obviously I did.

Once I rebounded and was able to exist in the everyday, my next REAL why was to find my future husband so I can have a family of my own. I was persistent, I dealt with a lot of garbage, and spent many a night on the internet looking for “the one”. In November 2006 I found him, and I’m now married to him 3.5 years later.

The road leading to my marriage was an arduous one. I dealt with a lot of commuting, a lot of lonely weekends and weeknights, but the end result was something I struggled to get, and so far the reward is greater than the journey, but the journey is where I learned.

My point is, everything about your why is something you have to FIGHT for. It’s the power that gets you to stick through the grueling, arduous, boring & mundane.

Take New Years’ Resolutions for example; what is the ACTUAL percentage of people who stick to them? It’s not very high. In fact, according to surveys, only 8 percent of Americans successfully achieve their New Year’s resolutions so 92% are not kept. 80 percent of those who make New Year’s resolutions have failed by Jan. 20.

WOW! pretty scary if you think about it. Using that as a silly example, it still begs to question “Are YOU FIGHTING for YOUR WHY?”

What is your motivator? Love or hate? Love being something or someone you must have like a car, or your true love, or that dream job or house, or town you HAVE to live in. Hate being something you don’t want or can’t deal with or want to change like your health, your diet, your weight, your living situation, work situation, in my case it’s my commuting that I LOATHE.

I have found my fight as so many others have in the span of time like David had Goliath, The North had The South, The Republicans have the Democrats, Bush had 9/11, you get the point. Throughout the span of time there was always afight that kept that fire burning, a reason to have that fortitude that was needed to see it through to the very end no matter what.

Taken right from Darren Hardy’s ‘The Compund Effect’- ” Enemies give us a reason to stand tall with courage. Having to fight challenges your skills, your character, and your resolve. It forces you to asses and exercise your talents and abilities. Without a motivating fight, we can become fat and lazy; we lose our strength and purpose.“

My battle now is traffic and my panic attacks. I’ve had them for 7 years now. Though i am medicated to handle them to a degree, they still get out of my control once the brakes go on and stay on for miles. I need to beat this thing, but we (my husband and I) want to start a family. I cannot even THINK of starting one until I’m off of my current meds for 3 full months. Get the picture? As long as I’m commuting, I’m on meds, no family with meds.

With that being said, I have a choice to make. I need to change my job. In this economy however, it’s not really feasible, so I decided to take my life in the direction it should have started in the first place.. Fitness. Coaching for Beachbody has open the doors for me to finally follow my passion and that is motivating and helping others achieve their health and fitness goals. Running along side of my Beachbody career I have enrolled in NASM CPT courses that will start once I receive all of my course material next week. I’m hoping by the end of the year I will have my CPT and can finally stop this ridiculously expensive and stressful commute.

So mine is a double-edged why: love=fitness and family, hate=traffic /commute/panic attacks.

Ask yourself: who or what is your why?

Reading or Listening

Books have long been a tool to learn, to lose yourself, or to grow yourself.

I love to read, and I’d rather read a book than watch TV sometimes. My favorite place to read is in the backyard, on the deck with a nice cool beverage (or hot coffee depending on the season). It’s quiet, (for the most part), and relaxing. The sounds of nature distract your brain from drifting (which mine has the tendency to do, especially when it’s a very good book).

Normally i read books that pertain to self help, in thought and in my relationships with others, crime books, decorating and design, and more recently wedding planning. Though, with my most recent purchase still due to arrive, I decided to change it up a bit this time. I ordered “The Shack” on audio book.

I believe that you are directed down a certain path for a reason. I believe there are signs that lead you to that path. Those signs can be either bold and in your face, or subtle and discreet.  I’m not a water-walker by any means, but i do have a God and i believe he’s there to help me be a better person.

Last Sunday’s church handout had a plethora of information regarding programs that are about to start or have recently started for those that want to enrich themselves or the lives of others. One that particularly caught my attention was the book/reading club. the book they are discussing now is “The Shack”. My curiosity has been peaked enough for me to Google this book to find out more about it.  I have no current plans on joining the book club though, but i have now found a good resource to introduce me to books i would not have come across otherwise.

What i found was a website dedicated solely to this book which offered a preview of the Forward and the entire first chapter. I didn’t want to put it down, err rather close the screen. So to amazon i went and i purchased the audio book.

I think what led me to making that decision was the fact that the book does not come in hard cover. I like hard cover books better than paperback. They last longer, and they look better on the shelves of the library i am in the process of creating.

I’m excited about my purchase and i can not wait to receive it. It will become good listening material on my long commutes to my FH’s house on Fridays while i’m sitting in traffic.