Sometimes you are your own worst enemy, especially when it comes to success. Let’s agree that our potential is unlimited, but agreeing isn’t enough. It’s imperative that you take steps to develop your skills and take action in order to succeed. You can’t sit around and wait for it to happen to you, you have to push yourself beyond your own limits. There’s also a difference between your existing skills, the ones you have yet to develop, and the limitations you’ve placed on yourself due to fear and uncertainty. Do you have the ability to recognize a genuine limitation? Here are five ways to get rid of those self-imposed boundaries and push yourself beyond your own limits.
Table of Contents
1. Walk The Road Less Travelled
Sometimes, in order to truly find yourself, you have to first lose yourself a little. A great example of this is the British explorer and author Levison Wood. The former British Army Major is best known for his walking expeditions. He walked through six countries, along the Nile River, pushing his body through deserts, swamps and constantly changing terrain. He pushed himself beyond his limits and in the process he educated himself.
Wood could have made this same trip in a vehicle. That vehicle could have been fully stocked with all of the creature comforts he’d need to enjoy the adventure. But he was looking to push himself indeed it was the journey and not the trip that mattered
The point is what he did was push the limits, he absolutely took the road less travelled. You don’t have to walk the length of the Nile River, but don’t be afraid to walk down the road less travelled.
2. Embrace Failure
Failure is inevitable. It doesn’t matter how great you are at something, you will experience failure. Even the greatest athletes on the planet lose sometimes. American swimmer Michael Phelps didn’t win every gold medal that he competed for.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has experienced major losses in both European and International competitions. Do you know what winners do? They pick themselves up, dust themselves off and they go again. It’s the only way to push yourself beyond your limits. Or, you can give up and sulk about it.
3. Take the Risk
Life is like a marathon, and in order to run the distance, you’re going to have to take some risks. Athletes push their bodies beyond their limits, you don’t have to do that. You do have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone, though. After all, life is truly lived beyond your comfort zone. Think about it in terms of offence and defence. If you are facing a must-win game, are you going to set your team up to defend? Or, are you going to push to score?
You might think a balance of the two is the best option, but sometimes you just have to take the risk. Forget comfort, embrace the pain and take a risk.
4. Unleash the Beast
Desperation allows you to access part of yourself that you normally suppress. It makes sense when you think about how you step up when you’re suddenly under pressure. Your boss just moved the deadline forward and now you have to grind it out. Your beast is unleashed. You can tease your beast out by throwing yourself into challenges and adventures. When you get in touch with your inner beast, it’s easier to draw on it when you really need it.
So, put yourself out there and go on an adventure that scares you. Activate your beast mode.
5. Remember There’s No Finish Line
When you achieve a goal, you’re not finished. That wasn’t the finish line. You just start a new race, there’s a new challenge. Like in a triathlon when you finish the swim, you’re not done, you have to hop on a bike, and after you finish that you need to run. Except in life, you keep going. Pushing yourself beyond your own limits is essentially an invitation for pain and failure. Failure isn’t the end of the world, though. It’s just a pit-stop in your long journey.
I can’t stress how important number 5 is, I spent so much time wanting to get to the end and finish stuff that I completely forgot about enjoying the journey.
Until next time keep on keeping on.
D