When you have a dream, nothing really is impossible

"Most visitors to Antarctica go to see the penguins and the glaciers. Ashrita Furman went to hop on a pogo stick.

"Mr. Furman, seeking to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest mile on a pogo stick, jumped up and down a landing strip on the Antarctic tundra in 2003. "The conditions were pretty hard," says the 56-year-old New Yorker, noting that extreme temperatures caused his pogo stick to freeze up midway through the event. He nevertheless completed the feat in 17 minutes, 45 seconds, setting the world record.

"It was just another day in the life of Mr. Furman, who holds the ultimate Guinness world record: The record for Guinness world records...

You can read the rest of this amazing real-life adventurebolt story at the Wall Street Journal article by Jilian Mincer:

#mce_temp_url#

How to plan to succeed in three simple (but not necessarily easy) steps:

If we have a desire to be successful in anything, be it friendships, family, personal budgets, home maintenance, study and learning, or any other objective, we have to realize there is a measure of planning necessary to achieve progress.

One of the adventurebolt insights that I have recently been able to see immediate benefits of, is an increase in intentional planning, even each day. Over the past few weeks, I have been going in to the office early to just look at tasks that need to be accomplished, prioritize them, and then set them up on a simple checklist to be crossed off as they are done. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not really.

For example, take a few moments to think of what projects you may be wanting to do around the house that you have had in mind for awhile, but never really got around to doing.

1) First, write down all the projects or activities you need to do, as many as you can think of in five minutes.

2) Then, prioritize them according to which one should be accomplished first, second and so on. DON'T make the mistake of prioritizing them according to which ones you would PREFER to start on, as opposed to which ones SHOULD be accomplished first. This is a big lesson in disciplining yourself to do things you don't want to do, but that need to be done anyway. To be fair to yourself, if there is no urgency between several items on your list, then allow yourself to put them in an order you would prefer, but then STICK TO THE LIST.

3) Then, DO NOT MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM UNTIL YOU CAN CROSS OFF THE CURRENT ONE. This is critical. It's so simple, but it can be the most difficult aspect to do. Force yourself to follow this principle. Do not allow yourself to get distracted by lesser issues or interruptions. If you do get off track or interrupted, don't continue with anything else until you go back and finish your current item.

This whole process takes time. There is a measure of planning that should go into each day. If time is more valuable than money (as I have mentioned elsewhere), why do we carelessly "spend" it without any planning? What I like about this insight is that the benefits of this process can be realized immediately, and with continued practice, the benefits increase with each success.

How to wrestle with your inner two-year-old: keep your focus to attack your challenges

Accomplishment is a great adventurebolt experience. It feels good to
get some things done that have been kicking around for awhile at work
until good, focused time could be spent on them. The cool thing is
that when you purposely set aside the time to attack a project, even
the dreaded things can get done more quickly than expected because
you're focused.

It's easy to be distracted when you're not interested in completing
the task at hand, but if you block out everything else but what you
have to do, it goes much more easily. Set aside all distractions:
turn of the phone, the email notification, the radio, and go attack
whatever project needs to get done. Stare it down; it will wither and
fall under your persistent gaze.

I look at it as the equivalent of forcing your inner two-year old to
eat their vegetables; your ITYO (inner two-year old) doesn't like it,
but it's good for them, and makes them stronger for the next
challenge. Make them eat that spinach. Once it goes down, they'll feel
much better. And so will you.

True discipline is making yourself do the things you don't want to do until they become unstoppable habits of success.

Who likes to drag themselves out of bed when they can barely comprehend their alarm clock with their conscious mind? Who likes to eat a constant stream of salad when pastries are just as accessible? Who likes to force their body through a repetitive routine of strenuous activity that typically ends up in extended muscle soreness, just to "stay in shape"?

Besides the few sadistic readers that raised your hands to any or all of the foregoing questions, the answer is collectively "no one". However, unfortunate examples like these are what it takes to achieve success in whatever arena you have chosen to master.

It's called self-discipline, and it is the most difficult principle to engage in. After all, who is easier to convince that you need to take a sick day: you or your boss? Admit it, you're a pushover, just like me, and there are times that you are more than willing to talk yourself out of anything that requires any sort of effort.

But self-discipline has a hidden advantage that few find, only because it takes a while to dig around and grab hold of. The secret is this: if you force yourself to repetitively do something you don't want to do (because it is necessary and beneficial for your overall purpose and well-being), you will then begin to leverage that distasteful chore into a habit. And once that habit is established, you now will have an added built-in accountability keeper.

I like to think of (good) habits as being like flywheels of accomplishment. A flywheel is a mechanism for sustaining momentum. It is a heavy object that takes a lot of energy to get moving, but once it is in motion, it continues to rotate practically on its own with little or no added energy. It also becomes very difficult to slow down and stop because of its momentum. This is what habits do for us: they allow us to continue certain practices almost without thinking because they have become ingrained within our pattern of living.

So the good news is that your good habits can keep you on the path to achievement. The bad news is that bad habits can also keep you on the road to destruction, pain, disillusionment, and everything else you don't want in your life. The flywheel principle is the same; only the destination is different.

Be sure you are selecting the proper things to be forcing yourself to do. With the right motivation, you can create a whole new momentum for your life that can bring you into the areas where you want to be.

Distractions can pull you away from the momentum gained by good disciplines. This key principle helps keep up your momentum:

Most of the progress that people make is by the sheer momentum of practices they have mastered and implemented in their lives over time. It is very difficult to succeed overnight, but those who have made positive choices and instilled good habits in themselves have a certain momentum that seems to carry them through adverse situations, and indeed it does. The challenges that might waylay a casual traveler have little or no effect on the dedicated individual who has already made sacrifices along the way. These are the ones who are already prepared for the rough spots and have built up enough speed to reach their goals, even if they hit some road bumps and potholes in the road.

Distractions are the traffic stops in the road, and keep you from making any significant progress. However, with the momentum of discipline and good habits, distractions do not slow you down; you're too busy keeping your eyes on the road ahead. You know your ultimate destination and you are determined to get there, no matter what.

Disciplines that are used for awhile and then tossed aside do no good to maintain momentum. An eating plan, for example, is only as good as your commitment to stick with it. Once you compromise what you had planned to be eating, all hope of achieving your goal is lost, and your body cannot create the metabolic momentum it needs to reach your intended health destination. Keep at it, and before you know it, you will have revved up an engine that is operating at its peak capacity and efficiency at all times. Then you will be well on your way to a healthier life.

The same is true of any other destination we have in mind, whether its a financial goal, a career goal, or a retirement goal. Practice the principle of persevering when it comes to those distractions that would pull you from the straight line of achieving your vision, and you will be able to attain it by the momentum you have built up to that point. Let it carry you through to success.

Filed under: discipline