The Next Challenge
I’m currently in the process of figuring out what my next challenge is and whilst I have a few ideas of some things that interest me I think it’s always good to ask myself why I’m doing this. For reference, I’m speaking just on physical challenges at this stage and the motivation is something that’s always interested me.
The basic answer is I need to stay fit and healthy to give my leg the best chance to stay strong and after a while doing the same strength/fitness program that’s tailored to my leg gets a little boring. So to add variety and a purpose to my fitness regime helps keep me motivated and gives me a reason to get up each morning and do what I need to do to help me complete the challenge I’m undertaking at the time.
The slightly more in depth answer is because I was told I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things by doctors etc over time and once you’ve overcome just one of these things it’s a bit like a drug and you get a hit or a kick out of proving them wrong time and time again.
The answer I really want to give though is for someone who’s been in a position of struggle, where it’s difficult to see a way to keep moving forward, the knowledge of knowing you’ve overcome this feeling of both physical and mental self doubt becomes it’s own muscle. It’s been well documented of late that we all need to get more comfortable being uncomfortable (thanks Nedd) and that looks different for everyone but we don’t know our limits if we don’t push it every now and again.
The first challenge I did was the Oxfam 100km walk (notable because I was told walking would be a huge challenge for me in the future) and one thing I really wanted to find out is if I pushed myself to the point that I felt like I couldn’t go any further, could I push through that?
I liken it to lifting weights in the gym. We need to periodically test what our limits are (reps/weight) so we know where we’re at and what the next points of progress are. But without testing these limits we wouldn’t know how to improve so we can get stronger. Failure is a part of this whole process so put that aside and focus on the test itself and what you can do to achieve it. As we do this over time the physical muscle gets bigger, and so to does the mental muscle I spoke of earlier.
Overcoming these challenges is a huge part of personal progress which includes all of the highs and the lows but we learn some pretty cool things about ourselves along the way and whatever I choose to do next I can’t wait to get to a point where I can look back and know why I did it in the first place.