Why is it important to you?
Posted: May 17, 2019
An excerpt from the book “Be Your Personal Best: Fitness”
By Master Christopher Rappold
I am sure you have heard about the story of the grandmother lifting an end of a car up to free her trapped grandchild underneath it. How about the story of Marcus Luttrell, the Navy Seal who was shot several times, fell down a rocky cliff breaking his leg and his back, yet summoned the strength to crawl inch by inch seven miles to escape being captured? How is it that people are able to do these feats of what seems like impossibility?
I believe the reason is that their “why” is so strong that nothing will get in the way. For the grandmother, her “why” was the life of her grandchild, and for Marcus Luttrell it was for his fellow Navy Seals and the love of his country. Though the examples are extreme, I think they both illustrate a point: when the “why” is strong enough, the excuses tend to fall aside.
So let’s bring it back to you. Living disease-free, being the best you thaty ou can be, having more energy, being more productive, being less stressed -- are these enough motivations for you? For some, they are; for others, they still fall short.
I come from a belief that humans will always do more for others than they will for themselves. So, if personal gain isn’t enough, consider for a moment how you affect the people in your life whom you love. Do you want to only be a fraction of what you could be as a wife or husband? How about as a parent; do you feel your children deserve the best parent they can possibly have or is a fraction of what you could be enough to give them? How about as a friend; is it important for you to have the energy and enthusiasm to be the very best friend you can be or again is good enough truly good enough? How about your career; is being a marginal version of yourself okay, knowing that you will ultimately be providing less for your family and that you will be competing against others who pride themselves in being the best they can be?
Self-investment is one of the single most impactful things you can possibly do for the people in your life. Think you are already doing a good enough job? Compared to what… the people around you? Success is not measured by what you do compared to others, success is a personal measurement of how good you do, compared to how good you could have done maximizing all the abilities given to you. Perhaps the place to start first is with a list of the top ten reasons taking better care of yourself physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually is important to you. With strong enough reasons, making the emotional commitment to a small investment of 4 percent of your day, you will have enjoyed all the benefits of a 24,000 percent return. Invest the time to put a list of the top 10 most compelling reasons you will commit to it and keep this list in your office, in your car, on your desktop, on your phone -- always in plain site as a way to keep you coming from a place of total commitment. A strong enough list of “whys” will always win over the tendency to not follow through.
If you would like a copy of the book Be Your Personal Best: Fitness, please email kfarrell@personalbestkarate.com.
If you would like to have your child try our award-winning registration page based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home.