Self.Set.Limits ; Limit-less!

"We are only limited in terms of what our mentality tells us we can or cannot do" 

Bishop Garlington 

As of January 2014 I made a resolution to join the fitness-exercise bandwagon and started my personal walk/jog regime :) ....yay me for being healthy or rather it's more about my clothes being a tad bit too tight lately but anyway a win is a win!! Sooo yes I started my weekly routine and this post is inspired by one of the things that I discovered on my morning waaaaaaaaaaaaalk/jog.... 

I believe that this may be common knowledge, however,  it's something that's been heavily impressed on my heart every morning, you shall soon see how, and I hope in sharing it here and in this way someone might be motivated to Limit-less! 

Self.Set.Limits a.k.a The limits We Set for Ourselves

• January 1st she decided she wanted to be "healthier" and exercise. She proposed that she would jog only on Monday through to Friday because she rests on the weekend and couldn't possibly be waking up so early in the morning. 

In all honesty the statement in bold is not true. I could be waking up on Saturday and Sunday morning to waaaaaaaalk/jog but what's in bold is the bar that I set for myself and as a result I do not waaaaaaalk/jog on Saturdays or Sundays.

• So she hops out of bed at 5.30AM and sets out on her waaaalk/jog. Initially she told herself, "No you are going to walk because the last time you did any exercise was 4 years ago and you can't handle anything too drastic." 

The statement in bold is NOT TRUE but for two weeks I was pretty content with my status quo. It wasn't until my dad and my sister walked into the scene and rocked my smug self-accomplishment boat by letting me know, " OMG it takes you 15 minutes to go round the block!! What are you doing, crawling?" Soooo from then on I thought okay maybe I need to step up the tempo a notch. . 

• She settles on less waaaaaalk and adds a little jog to the routine. She can't possibly go round the entire block and the thought process goes a bit like this...... "I am going to jog from my gate to that tower light. If I get to the tower light I have done well. Thereafter I can walk for a bit" How she sees it, the tower light is like faaaaar. In her mind if she manages to jog up until the tower light she would have done well. So she would jog, jog, jog and really push herself if need be but the moment she'd reached the tower light she would stop, mentally clap hands for herself and then walk because as far as she is concerned she has done exceptionally well in exerting all this effort.
• As she is jogging she often looks up and tells herself, "There is the tower light, there is the tower light...I'm going to the tower light, there is the tower light!!!" And when she gets there she stops, She is Happy! She is very satisfied with herself, she has no qualms and the jog immediately turns into a waaaalk. 

HOWEVER, the truth of the matter is when I'd reached the tower light most times I really wouldn't have exerted myself to tipping point. I could actually go way further than i'd set out to but because that was the standard/the bar that I had set for myself going any further than that designated tower light felt like a strain. In my mind the reflex would be to ask myself, "Why are you doing this? You have already done so well. You have already reached your destination." But we all know that even though I'd jogged to the tower light it doesn't mean that I can't jog any further. it doesn't mean that I am tired, it doesn't mean that this is the best that I can do. All it means is that that is the limit that I had set for myself. 

Thinking much further than just my jogging experience I realize that this goes a lot deeper into how we handle life in general and how self thoughts can either positively of negatively shape how far we go. There are real life consequences and stagnating circumstances that arise when we don't self-talk further than what we think we can/should accomplish. There are so many examples that  I am sure people can share from their personal experiences and I am reminded of a chain message I received a few weeks ago about a man who was asked why his relationship with his wife and family was so close knit and the response that he gave was that he had made a decision for it to be like that. His response was that it was a decision, a choice and I strongly believe that this extrapolates to everything else in our lives where we make mental decisions and they stand as the bar.

I'll give an example of academic bars you may have set in the past, "If I get 5 o'levels I have done well". That is a limit already set. You are not going to be inspired to push any further than that because that is the epitome of your satisfaction.  Another personal example would be of the times I've spent with my dad. My dad is my hero and someone who really inspires me and  I am always in awe when I sit with him and he shares some of the ideas and expectations that he has for his business. I'm often blown away because his vision goes much further than what is possible now or can be projected given the current circumstances. His aspirations are HUGE and his thinking is never the limiting factor. He aims far above what's normal, beyond what's expected of him because of his background or the economic climate. As a result he is never contented with where things are at now,  he rises far above what's expected, far above what is normal, far above what his background holds him to. He recently challenged me, "Chido why do you want to buy such a small car?" My response, "Daddy that's where I am at." But the truth of the matter is that that's the limit I have set for myself. 

So yeah today I decided to share this post to hopefully inspire somebody to push yourself. Set goals that go beyond what you think you can do.  there is a famous quote that says, "If your dreams don't scare you then your dreams aren't big enough!" 

Reach further than the stars, aspire to be something more! Don't be your own limiting factor. Don't stop yourself from getting where you can be. Very often it's not anybody else...it's an internal bar that you have set. It's not the economic climate....it's a mental challenge. It's not where you grew up it's up to you. We all know of so many success stories from men and women who have risen far above where the odds would have them placed. Why can't you? Make a conscious effort to challenge yourself...rethink your goals, rethink your attitudes to what you can or cannot do...Limit-less!

XOXO

Chido Dziva Chikwari