I have to say, I’m so happy right now! I spent many frustrated hours this weekend trying to put the last two posts up on my actual blog (www.fierceabundance.com) and I figured it out! With Aris’ help, Google search – and some pointers that my sister gave me A FEW MONTHS AGO – I did it! So here we are – my next post going straight to my website! Yay, me!
If you read my last post about finding your “why” and letting that help you push through your fear – you may be thinking – “ok, now what? I figured out my why, I’m sitting here crying about it – but I’m still freaking scared and don’t know what to do next!” Here’s what you do… GO. ALL. IN.
And… don’t have a back-up plan.
I know, I know – that’s not the responsible thing to say, that’s not what your mom would want to hear… but let me explain.
My friends and family know that I am an all or nothing person. I’m doing a cleanse? I go all in and have nothing but green juice for 3 days. I want to start running again? I sign up for a trail ½ marathon. And my biggest inspirations are watching crazy Netflix specials about people who juice for 30 days straight or unbelievable athletes that are doing things that are truly inconceivable! About a year ago I watched a documentary about the CrossFit Games – the next morning I went ALL OUT on my trail run. I started fantasizing about the possibility of running a triathlon that year (which I’ve never done, always wanted to, but now believed I would be the best damn triathlete ever after watching the bad ass women in that documentary). I was in my head planning my training schedule, running really fast downhill – and I fell. I fell HARD. I flew – literally slow motion through the air – iPhone still attached to my headphone cord flying next to me – I went down full frontal, full dirt, pebbles in my mouth, blood down my arms! Luckily, I hit the ground evenly so the total overall force was absorbed across my body. I didn’t break anything (blessing #1), I didn’t hurt my face (blessing #2) but I was over a mile from my home in the middle of a trail that was at least ½ mile from the nearest house. And I was alone. I screamed F-bombs so loud I’m guessing I scared off a few coyotes! I got up, adrenaline rushing, and believe it or not ran home – fast! I ended up with a torn intercostal muscle between my ribs, and a completely scratched phone and iWatch, lots of “road rash” burns, and about 8 weeks of PT before I was back on the trail. But I went back. And I went all in. Again. I guess you can say I am addicted to the adrenaline and I have no patience! And that’s exactly how I approach my business. When I want something, I want it now and I will do what it takes to get it.
Here’s the thing – once you find what you love, you will have so much energy, you won’t have any other choice but to go all in! Right? When it comes to running – something I have loved for the past 30 years – I follow extreme humans like Dean Karnazes – he’s an ultra-marathoner and is my kind of crazy! I want to be him when I grow up! He runs so long and so far that he orders pizza delivery to meet him on some random street corner, orders the pizza uncut, rolls it up like a burrito and eats it while he keeps running! That is so ridiculous, but I am in love with his dedication! And recently, I watched a Netflix doc on a guy known as the Iron Cowboy – he did 50 Ironmans, in 50 states, in 50 days! WHAT???? Who does that? And WHY???? And I want to know ALL about it and I love that when I hear his story, it inspires me to believe that I could do that! Now, WILL I do that? Back to me being all or nothing – I can tell you with all my heart I WANT to do that, but with my age has come a small dose of reality – which isn’t always a bad thing. Now, instead of wanting to do the WHOLE thing, (like 50 triathlons) I got up the next morning and ran four miles along the same beautiful trail I took that horrible fall on last year and FELT like the bad ass I believe myself to be (even if I never complete a 50/50/50 Ironman challenge!).
And that’s the thing. That’s what I chase when I go all in on my dreams. The feeling that I CAN accomplish anything I put my mind to. I know there are people out there that can do it, so I ask “Why not me?” If that crazy human over there can do a thing – I can, too – and I’m going to kick that things ass!
And, I’m not going to have a back up plan. Now, reading that earlier might have made you mad. That’s ok. This part maybe pisses you off. The responsible part of you thinks “I HAVE to have a back up plan, what if it fails? I’ll need to have a Plan B”. Well, I ask you this… what would your back up plan be if you were stranded in a lifeboat? What would your Plan B be? I can tell you – YOU WOULDN’T HAVE ONE! Your Plan A would be to survive – the ONLY option! You would do everything in your power to figure it out and get back to your life on dry land! It’s the same thing with a big dream! You have to look at it as life or death – because it sort of is. As far as we know this is our one chance here on Earth. How bad would it suck to get to the end only to look back as say, “at least I always had a Plan B” instead of knowing that you went all in every time? That’s not to say that you won’t make mistakes and come up against huge roadblocks, but when there is no back-up plan, I guarantee you will figure out how to get it done – whatever your “it” is. So, when I have a dream that is big – that’s how I see it. There is no option for failure. When I opened my studio 5 years ago with absolutely no fitness background, there was no way I was entertaining any other option outside of complete success. I saw other people doing what I wanted to do and being successful at it – so there was no reason for me to fail. The only thing that would have allowed me to fail would have been a Plan B. Because as long as you have a Plan B, you will never be 100% ALL IN on your dream.
It’s scary. It will keep you up at night wanting to hurl. You will stand in the shower and cry (I hear that happens) wondering how you are going to keep at it. But, without another option, you will start to gain traction. You will have some really, REALLY good days. You will create relationships that are priceless. And you will wake up one day thinking “how did I ever live without this in my life?”
Now, how do you keep motivated through all those hard times when you aren’t giving yourself an “out?” You find people to motivate you, inspire you and keep you moving forward! You find people who have been where you are and can help shine a light in the direction you are going. That’s why I love watching those crazy documentaries I talked about earlier. I also read like a mad woman! And most recently, I’ve become addicted to podcasts by entrepreneurs who have been where I am – and who are where I want to go! If you want to know who I follow, DM me for a list of all the books I’ve read the past year and the podcasts I’m listening to! I get up early every single morning (even on Sundays!) and I have a very specific morning routine which includes a 2 mile walk. That’s when I plug in to a podcast and learn! Every morning I get home from my walk literally wanting to jump into whatever is on my agenda for the day! It fires me up to listen to successful people kicking ass! And I know that is how I want my life, my business, my relationships to be!
To have success in any area of your life, don’t have a back up plan. Make a deal with yourself that you will give this dream everything you have to make it work – and I’m telling you, it will work! It might take a lot of time, it will definitely take sacrifices and doing hard things you may not want to do in the moment, but if you keep your WHY in front of you and your passion stoked with inspiration around you, you will figure it out and you will succeed.
I hope that all made sense and I would love to continue the conversation! DM me with questions or comments and any thoughts you may have around this!
And please share this blog with your people if you think they’d be into it!
Have an amazing and productive day!
Much love,
Cindi
fierce abundance 