You have the will but lack the discipline (to accomplish your dreams).
Our brains are wired for short term gratification while dreaming of happily ever after without effort.
There is a dream in your heart, a goal you desire. You might pray for it, wish for it, and plan for it. But the effort to actually make it real seems intimidating. The bigger the dream or goal, the more daunting. So, you start shrinking your dreams and goals until they feel comfortable. You decrease the gap between expectation and reality until they are no longer inspiring dreams or goals. They are just another task to check off.
The Will vs the Spirit
Where there is a will, there is a way.
George Herbert
Deep down, you feel your will is enough to make things real despite any lack, limitations or obstacles. When you believe in it strongly enough, you think you will do anything and everything to find a way to bring your dreams into being.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
George Herbert
As Jesus prayed the night before he was to be crucified, he spoke to his disciples who were falling asleep. Even though his disciples all believed that they would also do whatever it took to protect and fight for their leader, they fell asleep, as their bodies were too tired to follow the will of their spirit.
This is tantamount when it comes to effort. One common form of effort that translates will into reality is exercise. How do you define exercise?
Exercise is a planned, structured, and repetitive subset of physical activity. The objective is to improve or maintain physical fitness.
To exercise your will is to plan, structure, and repetitively act to produce a result of that will. Now, apply this not only to physical exercise but also other areas of your life, such as mental exercise, spiritual exercise, relationship exercise, or financial exercise.
Once you apply it in one area of your life, you can then apply it in other areas of your life.
How can I climb higher?
You just have to do the climb.
Michael Woods, pro cyclist
I asked many of my pro cyclist friends how to ride my bike up mountains faster. They answered, "I hate to tell you this, but the best way is to climb bigger mountains and do it as much as possible." I was able to ride alongside four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome and Hugo Houle, the winner of stage 16 at the 2024 Tour de France, during their training mountain climbs. They were to go up the mountain, increasing power each minute and decreasing rest periods. Eg. 50 seconds regular, then 10 seconds at 500 watts for ten minutes and then increase this to 20 seconds at 500 Watts, then 30 seconds at 500 Watts. I tried this and, after 15 minutes, didn't have the mental strength to continue doing it. I realized that the practice rides were intense, and they had to often do blocks of training that were harder than the stage races of the Tour de France, where they rode in a peloton, drafting behind others to conserve energy.
Only by actually doing the 'work' will you see your limits, constraints, current level, and potential. I started to schedule mountain climbs on my bike, even doing the same mountain two or three times in one ride. I became very fit and much better at climbing mountains, although it was a power hour of mental endurance as much as it was physical.
Can you imagine your heart beating 170 beats per minute for an hour? My heart became so efficient, that my resting heart rate is now 43. In medicine, we were told that the normal heart rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). I asked Froome what his resting heart rate was-- 32 bpm. Wow. Lance Armstrong's? 28. This is why their hearts are able toendure the tremendous rigours of climbing the European Alps and mountains for 3,400 km and 50,000m of elevation over 21 days. That's an average of 160 km and 2300m climbing every day.
The Hill Principle
The climb is your friend who is always right before you.
Dr. Kevin Ham
When I used to peer up the face of a mountain from the base on my bicycle, I would experience a lot of anxiety about how hard and painful it would feel to ride up. Then, one day, I realized that although the mountain would always remain the same and I would suffer, I would also become stronger, fitter, and healthier.
My mindset changed from one of anxiety and suffering to one of taking on a challenge to gain great physical and mental benefits. From that moment, I started riding up the hills and mountains with resolve and discipline to become the fittest person I could be. It was my version of 80/20 cardio, where I would climb each climb with intensity and then rest on the downhills and flats—like HIIT, High-Intensity Interval Training.
Best Longevity Predictor: VO2Max
Why do I want to live forever when I know my body will not?
Dr. Kevin Ham
My friend Paulo, who is the Performance Director for the pro cycling team Israel Premier Tech and a coach to Olympic Athletes, taught me this longevity hack: If you exercise HIIT for 30 minutes three times a week, your VO2Max will only decline 6% from age 60 to 80. I realized that my VO2Max could be the same at 80 as it was at 50 (my VO2Max was 51 at age 49 and ~60 at age 52).
So, mountain climbing became my will for physical and mental fitness with the purpose of longevity.
Schedule it in your calendar
Time is just moments scheduled, serendipitous, or passed away.
Dr. Kevin Ham
Your will is like the clouds. When you repetitively schedule your will into your plans and your calendar, it becomes like the weather forecast for your life--but you determine the weather forecast by your schedule. You determine the actual weather by doing what you put in your calendar.
It's that simple yet hard to do. First, you need to schedule your 'will' and then follow it with consistency and intention.
That's when your dreams manifest over time into reality. It's simple yet hard to do. If you start doing this, you will naturally rise to the top 10% or top 1% of whatever you set your will, mind, and body to.
Life Question:
What do you will to do this year, this month, this week, today?
Just do it.
Nike
Many things are out of your control. Find the things you can control, focus on them and then act on them. You will find your way to your dream by walking that path that appears before you.
Next week:
Resilience is the last step to the gates to success
Failures and breakdowns are inevitable before success appears.
See you next Thursday!
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