It’s that time of year again. The Beginning! The Clean Slate! The New Chapter! #NewYearNewMe, baby! Did you read that in the typical snide and smug tone? Strangely, I’m not against this goal-setting trend. I flippin’ love it. I love that people open up about their internal goals and desires for change during this time. There is something exquisite about people openly acknowledging those dreams and motivation that have taken a backseat to life. I even marvel and commend getting to see even a glimpse of the efforts put in. It’s beautiful and I would never want to tear someone down for TRYING.
Hey you, doing the thing. You make me whole.Customarily, we are not very kind to ourselves; our internal voice can be a real dick sometimes, let’s be honest. When we’re already uncertain of our abilities, the last thing we need is someone else shaming us for being a “resolutioner” who will throw in the towel early, only to reassemble with the same failing crowed for the next New Year. Although, how many of us are beginning this year with similar goals from last year?
Veruca Salt Syndrome, anyone?
Why is it that goals fall out of favor around the same time every year? Why is it so hard to make a statement, a commitment and to actually STICK to it? Because the path to success is not sexy and immediate (although, the start gate sure is a fine view). There is a cultural obsession with being busy and constantly achieving some feeling of gratification IMMEDIATELY.
I am not talking from some GODLY pedestal either; wanna know how JAZZED I get over a post that gets a few views or likes or comments or follows?
Over. The. Flippin. Moon. The best part: I don’t have to put anything in to achieve this brief but most SATISFYING feeling. I can get a like from users like: “Get1000followersNow2199”, a good friend or my distant cousin from Georgia.. and I’m still hit with those intense feelings of worth and fervor. I think this desire and expectation is responsible for the degradation for the notion of trying, I’m talking really TRYING for something long past it’s trendiness.
- Once that hashtag no longer gets you the hits or likes.
- Once someone posts about how annoying it is to see gym selfies and posts, or pics of families incorporating a walk after dinner to be better parents, or people straying from electronics to lead better lives.
- Once the sexiness of “change” is gone.. what are you left with?
The discomfort of growth
Have you ever seen animals like Cicadas, Tarantulas, Crabs or snakes go through their molting process? It does NOT look comfortable. Imagine living your whole life in this body that has toughened out and become a great barrier against the discomforts of the world around you (totally relatible, amirite?). However, you begin to realize that you will stay only a small version of your potential self unless you leave that shell. You pick a day, you begin pushing, and it’s difficult and tiring. You stop and rest, the rest feels good, you’re reminded how COMFORTABLE you are, however, you’ve already latched your body to the bark, and you continue onward. The air around you feels painful to your newly exposed body, and you dip back into your shell. There is no crowed cheering for you, there is no “like” on instagram, continuing onward provides you no certainty other than there will be CHANGE. You keep onward. You push and the shell pushes back, the fear pushes back. After hours of work (which in adult cicada terms is a LONG time), you emerge, and it is BRIGHT, it is COLD, it is PAINFUL and it is not GLORIOUS to anyone but YOU. That may not seem like much, but to the cicada, the world must be terrifying, but marvelous. See, depending on the species, a cicada will spend TWO to SEVENTEEN years of its life living underground. The little shells we find left on tree bark are the remains left behind of their nymph stage before they become adult cicadas. The adult cicada lives only a brief 5-6 weeks after molting. But that emergence is THEIR MOMENT.
The glory of the cicada’s hard work dies in a relatively short period of time, however they work for it with no certainty that they won’t be even recognized as anything but noise in the trees. So here’s the scoop: your glory, your “story”, your BIG MOMENT, comes through many unnoticed little moments. It’s baby steps, with failure and demotivated moments along the way. A real, life-altering change is NOT immediately gratifying, it can be uncomfortable, scary and yes, the wanting to give up is totally and completelyNORMAL. The doubts you have are no indication of lack of devotion, mental-strength or toughness; it simply means that you’re approaching the next level. (DING!)
+200XP… But am I capable of the next 2500XP before level 2?
ABSO-flippin-LUTELY. Now that you’re facing those moments of doubt and wanting to give up, you have made it to the real pivotal moment in your journey: The red pill or the blue pill.
You are faced with the question:
Do I hit snooze and return to my life as usual. I mean, it sure was comfortable going day-to-day in my cozy pjs, working my butt off for minimum wage with no real stimulation.
OR Do I push myself out of bed, to chase that dream of a better me? Put my pants on and work to achieve that desire I recently acknowledged to be a missing element in living the life I yearn for.
Many people do not even make it to this moment of reviewing the path before them. Give yourself credit and recognize this is not weakness; this is the moment where you make progress.
Look straight-ahead and JUMP!
Now is the crucial time to recognize that you just worked yourself up to the first hurdle of the race (and be PROUD). The best thing to do when you come up to a hurdle, is to maintain speed as you approach it so that you have enough momentum working WITH you to propel yourself over it. If you start to look down, slow down, (or come to a stop) right before a hurdle, well, you’ll be staring at this obstacle looking back at you, and the challenge can become very intimidating. You can still try and jump the hurdle or back up and try again with that same momentum, but boy is that a lot of additional work and wasted time. SO Maintain your speed! CHOOSE to run at, and jump the hurdle. Once you make it over that hurdle, recognize that there will be hurdles ahead that will take you just a much devotion to moving forward as the first. As long as you keep your eyes on the prize and not just the number of likes on facebook, you can obtain any goal you have set.
Oh, hey – if this happens, don’t worry, also part of the program. Just make sure to fall FORWARD with that momentum, and try, try again.
So, when is YOUR BIG MOMENT? It’s every single day, moving forward and choosing to grow.
Choosing to get back on track the very next meal after eating a whole pizza, one liter of pop, and the entire tray of brownies instead of allowing self-negativity talk you out of even trying.
Choosing to get out of bed at the time you promised to get up instead of opting to sleep in.
Choosing against buying that unnecessary binge item at the store to keep your expenses in check for the future.
Choosing to keep working through a tough semester so you can finally obtain your degree.
Choosing to continue a new habit to help develop a routine.
Choosing the hard-work over the compulsion to return to your warm shell underground, because you know in the end, growth and personal enrichment is a bigger opportunity than remaining dormant.
Your BIG MOMENT is made up of millions of small moments; billions of choices, sometimes resulting in failure, but always moving forward.
– Lindsey e.
Big Brain Fitness 
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