What Motivates Me

I’ve had a few people ask me what has motivated me this year. Why these goals? Why so many goals? What kept me going? There are really two main things.

First, I knew who I wanted to become and it wasn’t the person I was then. I didn’t really like who I was.  I was having a really hard time at the end of last year making decisions, feeling settled, and just dealing with life. I had this idea in my head of the woman I hoped to be and was basing some major decisions off of that, but I wasn’t her. It was then that I decided I would never be her if I didn’t make some changes and DO something about it. It was time to turn my words into actions.

Second, I didn’t want to waste the 18 months my sister was gone on a mission and have nothing to show for it. We were getting letter after amazing letter from Lori and I could see how much she was learning, changing, and accomplishing. I didn’t want her to come home, look at me and give me that “I saved the world, what did you do?” look. I wanted to be someone she could be proud of, just like I am of her! I wanted to live up to the high example she has set.

Every time I felt like I couldn’t walk another mile, or when I felt like the Old Testament would never end, or when my hair wouldn’t cooperate and seemed to be screaming for a cut, one of those two reasons would come into my mind. I became so determined that these things have seriously become a part of me. Reading my scriptures daily is almost a no brainer (except for the weekends…I’m STILL trying to get the schedule to stick on Saturday morning), and working out is more like play time now (words I would NEVER have said before accomplishing this goal), it’s become my reward for surviving my days.

If I had any words of advice for someone planning to tackle big goals, it would be this. JUST DO IT! Make a decision, move forward, and don’t look back. Make adjustments as necessary, but don’t give up. Determine what it is that motivates you and keep those thoughts close at hand.  I would also suggest making your goals visual. For me, it involved putting everything into a PowerPoint presentation and posting all the slides on my wall. Not once did I ever forget what I was trying to accomplish. And lastly, don’t worry about comparing your goals or the accomplishments with anyone else. I had a goal to walk 500 miles, yet had people posting on various media outlets that they had just finished 100 miles in a month, or run so many marathons, or some other really impressive accomplishment. I was tempted to throw in the towel at times because my goals weren’t as grand as theirs. But then I remembered that my goals weren’t their goals. Accept yourself and what you can do. You are doing so much better than you probably give yourself credit for! Just do it!