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Volume 10, Issue 46: Finish What You Started

I invested time at a ladies' leadership conference out of town this week. This time away from home and work afforded me a moment to pause, refresh and reflect. One of the presentations was on physical wellness for the busy woman. This is a topic close to my heart as I am about a decade into my physical wellness journey. I would say that I am classified among the middle level nutritionally conscious and physical fit people.

I have exercised consistently over the last 10 years, and my nutrition has gradually transitioned to now consuming only wholesome foods maybe 95% of the time. I didn't think much about it during the presentation but while taking time to reflect on the discussion later on, I realized I have an issue to address as a matter of urgency.

Have you ever started a project but not seen it through to conclusion? Have you ever stalled on a project in its final leg? Have you ever basked in the applause of the moment for how well you have done so far on a project and found yourself stalled? I never thought about it this way before, but today I realized that I stalled on one of my ultimate fitness goal.

Imagine running a 42 kilometers marathon so well only to stop at the last 2 kilometers and hang around there jogging back and forth. That after completing 40 kilometers, you are not moving backwards but you are not moving forward either to finish the race. That's how I feel about one aspect of my fitness goals, something I hadn't realized until now.

I feel like I did so well making small changes over time but failed to finish the race. I basked in the glory of feeling good and looking good but I did not push to get to the finish line to look my best. This realization is so annoying I have to take action now! Just picture a marathoner not finishing their race a mere 2 kilometers from the finish line. Not because they don't have any stamina left in them to finish but because of getting distracted by their success thus far.

Success can indeed be a serious enemy of progress. I know better than to bask in yesterday's successes but here I am having plateaued in my fitness journey, inches away from reaching my goal. I've got to do something to finish my race. I have come so far to not reach my goal. And I refuse to settle anymore for anything shy of my ultimate goal regardless of how close what I have attained resembles my ultimate goal. Starting now, I am racing to the finish line. I am giving myself until my next birthday (which is six and a half months away) to attain my goal of a flat tummy.

Which of your long term goals have you plateaued on? In what area of life have you settled for close but not quite there, less than your best, above average but not excellent? If you answered affirmatively, what are you going to do about it? Join me in this challenge to push ourselves to the finish line. We can do this. We have come so far to settle for less than our best.

Like I have done, identify just one of your stalled projects that you are passionate about finishing. List down the action points that you know if you disciplined yourself about you will definitely succeed in finishing the project. Create a system for tackling your action points. Set for yourself a realistic timeline. Enlist a few people to hold you accountable. Then start today!

 

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi