Anything, not Everything
How to make lasting changes in your life and strength
Good Morning!
I hosted an event last week.
A group of individuals to talk about strength.
Strength in the largest sense, physical, mental, emotional, and all other forms that impact our lives.
I’ve been working on creating a group like this for some time, and last week was the first launch of this new group.
In an open forum like this, bring a group of people who don’t know each other together, and asking them to speak about who they are, and open up about their experiences…
You never know how it will turn out, or be received.
To say it was beautiful, and magical would be a gross understatement.
The stories, experiences, and lives shared…and the connections made between this group, it was truly powerful.
One member shared a piece of his story that stuck with me.
He struggled with substance abuse since he was a teenager. Battling addiction through all different stages of his upbringing, and it affected every area of his life.
Health, work, relationships…all of it.
When the time came to him when he was ready to change…he said.
“I said to myself, I am going to give my best to my health and fitness. If there’s one thing I can control, I can find a way to improve on, it’s this.”
And he did, and completely changed his physical health, and the way he viewed it, over years of practice.
He started with getting to the gym. When he got that down, he started looking at his nutrition. When that became a strong habit, he looked to his faith, and mental practice.
From committing to one thing, it snowballed into many changes.
The lesson in this for me wasn’t one of fitness or health.
It was the discipline of change.
There were many parts of his life at the time he wanted to change, that he wanted to improve on.
He made a decision to choose one, and do the best he could at that one, and let the rest go for the time.
I’ve witnessed many people over my years of coaching try and make sweeping changes in a state of desperation and will.
They try and change everything that is “wrong” or “lacking” in their lives.
Most succeed in that for about a week…then life happens.
We want it all, I know.
But there’s a quote I always go back to in lessons like this.
“You can change ANYTHING in your life, but not EVERYTHING in your life.”
Pick one thing to master, to focus on.
And do that to the best level you can, and let the other things go…even though those other things are not where you want them to be.
The greatest act of strength is choosing one thing at a time…and spotlighting it.
Much Love, Michael