Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 298 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! I hope you are having a beautiful day and Im happy to be hanging with you while you drive or have coffee or workout whatever you do while you listen, Im happy to be with you. One quick thing this week, I say one bad word at the very end of this episode, so if you have kids, just giving you heads up.
There’s a movie called Dreamers, it’s an old movie but I just love it. It’s about a race horse named Sonador who is a rising star, she’s favored to win it all but she gets injured during a race, she actually broke a leg and her owner is going to put her down but her trainer and the trainers daughter beg him to let them take her, to which he conceded. They know she will never race again but they have their own farm with lots of pasture so they figure Sonador will live out her days happily being loved and just roaming the fields. Sounds great huh? No more having to practice long hours or race all she had to do was just chill. But that is not what she was built for. Pretty soon she heals and she’s running the pastures but they can tell she seems frustrated like she wants something more.. then one day the daughter is riding her and her dad pulls up alongside the fence in his truck and Sonador starts racing the truck, her time was so impressive and her spirits were so lifted, they allowed her to train and eventually she went on to race and win because that was what she was built for. It was based on a true story of a race horse that went on to become a legend after her (so called career ending) injury. She wouldn’t quit because that’s what she was built to do.
We all have injuries at different times in our life, maybe it’s physical, maybe it’s mental but at some point or another something happens and we have to decide if we are going to throw in the towel, go out to pasture so to speak or if we are going to get back on the race track again. We are built to sustain so much and we are also built to thrive. But being built for something doesn’t mean though you’re going to see it through automatically. It takes work, just like with that racehorse. There was a lot of work and conditioning that had to happen for her to be able to win races again. So what are you built for? Have you ever thought about that?
Jordan Peterson says that we are built to have a noble goal and to work towards it.
I’ve been in this world long enough to know that when I’m the happiest is when my mind is set on working towards a goal. Like having an end result that I know I want and working towards it continuously until I reach it.
You might have had an experience where you have a 20 year reunion coming up and you want to be this certain weight or size when you go, awesome. But What happens the day after the reunion? You felt the high and now what? You need another goal. Just know and be prepared that every time you have a goal and you reach it you’re gonna be happy and then you’re gonna feel a tugging maybe a little sadness because you accomplished that goal and now what? We are built for more. You see sometimes people accomplish something big and they let their brain tell them that’s it. That’s the culmination. Nothing can get better than that. You graduate college. You get your dream job. You get married. You have a baby. Whatever it is. You are built to keep going. We are built To have something to work for.
And We are built to withstand much more than we think we can.
If we weren’t built for that. We would cease to exist because life can be so hard. But here’s the thing it’s hard then it’s good, then its hard, then it’s good and that cycle will forever be the same. We are built for that.
My older sister told me she goes to her meetings at the Church even though she’s grieving her husband because the other people in her church get strength from seeing her be strong. I couldn’t have been more proud of her when she said that because how true that is. That is a thought that will serve her, that is a thought that will help her move forward. And the actions she takes because of that thought will serve her long term. It will keep her moving forward. And she will be stronger because of that not weaker.
Every time you overcome something hard you’re building strength. Just like in the gym. You don’t go to the gym twice and think that’s it I’m good. Nope you have to do that time and time again, and you get stronger every time, the same goes for your mental capacity. The more you endure, the stronger you get. We are built to be able to endure but sometimes we get in our own way and we have thoughts that weaken us. Just be cautious of them. You see sometimes we think if one more thing happens I’m going to break. I won’t be able to deal with it. Im not gonna make it through this. Wrong. You’re built for dealing with it. And you’re going to be stronger for it. But you can’t tell yourself thoughts that weaken you like I can’t handle one more thing. That thought does no-one any good. Yes you can handle it and you will. Think about how many times you’ve done it before.
We are built to be able to move forward especially when bad things happen, that’s how we are designed. But what about on just a regular Tuesday when nothing bad is happening what are we built for then?
I can tell you what we aren’t built for. We aren’t built for laying around eating Cheetos, staring at our phone and watching Netflix. That’s why we feel so crappy when we do that. Because our bodies were not designed to eat that on a regular basis nor were our brains designed to stare at our phone 24/7. It should be a hint to you that it’s not how you were designed because you feel so bad when you do it.
That’s why when we work a mundane job where we aren’t challenged and we can do it in our sleep we feel so bored with it. And why being lazy feels so yucky, it’s because it goes against our very nature. Same way being mean feels so bad is because it goes against our very nature. That’s not how we are designed. When we aren’t using our bodies and our mind in the way it’s meant to be used, it feels bad. We just have to listen to those hints of hey, I feel like crap when I eat donuts every day. Maybe don’t eat donuts every day.
There are hints all around us as to what will make our life better. If we ignore the hints we get further and further away from our true nature from how we were designed. The reason we see so much obesity and depression is because people have gotten away from doing the things in a way that energizes us and helps us thrive. When we get far away from what we are meant for, This can make us feel miserable, which has us finding ways to numb the pain so we drink too much, eat too much, watch too much tv, anything but facing the fact that we are not living up to our potential that we are not living up to what we were built for.
It’s easy in this life to get into a rut. we start getting into a rut where everything’s the same, and we wonder why we are bored or maybe feel depressed. It’s because we are designed to do new things we are designed to eat a nutritious whole food diet and to work towards something to make ourselves better that’s why it feels so good when you work out that’s why it feels so good when you Eat healthy, because you’re treating your body in a way for which it was designed. That’s also why it feel so good when you reach a goal. Think about the difference in how you feel sitting around eating donuts and Cheetos staring at your phone, watching tv all day vs how amazing we feel when we eat healthy, exercise, socialize with people we love and work towards something fulfilling, it’s because that’s how we are designed to thrive.
The good things you do today affect how you are that day, possibly tomorrow. But The good things you do every day affects how you are a year from now. It affects your whole life. Those daily habits and your regular thoughts are everything. You were built to do amazing things which will be different for each of us. We each have an opportunity to reach our own potential. But just because you were built for something doesn’t mean you’re gonna do it.
A horse may be built for racing but if he isn’t trained and conditioned he will not win races.
If you’re built to be an athlete but you don’t train, you’re not gonna be an athlete.
That goes for anything. If you want to be a coach but you’re not regularly putting ads out, you’re probably are not gonna coach a lot of people (yes, that ones for me) Im being honest with myself about that. Where do you need to be honest with yourself about what you’re doing in your life? You may wonder why things didn’t work out the way you thought they would but you aren’t taking any action towards your goal. Being honest with ourself is hard to do. It doesn’t feel good sometimes but that’s the only way you’re going to reach your full potential. It’s the only way you’re going to find out what you’re made of…..to try and fail and try and fail and eventually you may shock yourself at what you can do. We are built for continuous growth and improvement. We’re also built to do hard things and We are meant to thrive.
Are you thriving?
Think about your day to day habits. Are they helping you thrive? Are your thoughts making you stronger or weakening you? if you’ve had some bad stuff happen and you are thinking “I cannot handle one more thing” remember….Yes you can and you will, Not only were you built to thrive but you are also built to do hard things. That’s how you get stronger.
My challenge to you this week is whenever you have a thought like this is too hard, I can’t handle it, I’m not gonna make it, I want you jolt that thought with the mantra….Bullshit Im built for this.
I love you guys. Ill talk to you in a few days.
