What Motivates You?

Whenever a person decides to dedicate his or herself to improving their fitness, or really anything at all in life, its important to set goals. If you don't have a certain set of goals, both long term and short term, its difficult to accurately measure your progress, and without measurable progress it's all too easy to give up!

My short term goals vary frequently, and are not the main focus of today's discourse. These are things like, "perform a certain number of pullups," or, "perform a tuck planche for a solid minute." What I want to discuss is my long term goals and what that means for you.



The Greek philosopher Aristotle spoke of a concept called "Entelechy." The definition, via dictionary.com, reads: "In the philosophy of Aristotle, the condition of a thing whose essence is fully realized; actuality." I'm referring to the capstone of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Self-Actualization. Many people will define this concept somewhat narrowly, however I believe we have not reached the limit of humanities potential, and most of us do not even scratch the surface.

Usain Bolt proved capable of running the 200 meters in 19:30 seconds. Moving away from physical accomplishments, human science has allowed us to achieve so much that was once believed impossible. We've split the atom, we fly like birds, we've even walked on the moon. Consider all the amazing achievements that time has proven is within the capabilities of the human machine, and then consider how much of that potential the average man or woman actually realizes in their lives? How much of our potential will forever remain untapped for want of the determination to push the limits? Before there was a Roger Bannister, no one believed we could run 1-mile in less than 4-minutes.

God has granted all of us a wonderful vessel to house our spirits. By carefully feeding an nurturing our bodies AND our minds, we are capable of accomplishing things beyond our wildest dreams. In this sense, every healthy meal, every book I read, and every exercise I take is a form of prayer offered to He who has given me the capability to be so much more than I currently am. I will never stop pushing the limits of what I'm capable of, and I hope you won't either.