“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”—Lao-tzu
A journey doesn’t begin with apathy. It doesn’t start when you sit on the couch stuffing yourself with detrimental foods. A journey begins with action.
Without action, you don’t have a journey. You have procrastination. Go ahead and tweet that, I dare you.
Last week I had a chance to watch a new TV show Wake Up Call by one of my favorite actors/bodybuilders—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. One episode that resonated with me was about an overweight football coach, Javier.
It all comes down to a moment. Javier had grown to an obese weight of 410 pounds yet continued on his sedentary lifestyle. Javier’s girlfriend, assistant coach, and teammates step in to help him and that’s when a journey begins – when things start to get uncomfortable. Everything else is just a setup.
Writers call this the climax, or turning point. When things start getting interesting – your life takes a 180 degree turn toward a better journey. And the same is true for life.
What causes growth
We all need change. To be molded and shaped into the people we’re supposed to be.
We know this is necessary in movies and novels and even TV shows. It’s a good thing for a person to learn something by the end of the episode, to be a better version of themselves.
But when it comes to our lives, we forget this, don’t we? It somehow seems to escape us and we end up being the same.
So we run: away from commitments and taking action. The tragedy is these are the very things that would better us and cause us to grow.
Then something happens…
The nature of the journey entails something unexpected has to occur. Someone has to be jolted in order for an action to be set into motion.
In the Wake Up Call episode, Javier the coach was tested with The Rock and then Jillian Michaels who got to the core of Javier’s weight gain. By finding the main cause of Javier’s weight gain, Javier’s perspective on the situation was changed and he realized that using the weight as an excuse not to try was unacceptable. Check out the episode, it’s inspirational.
Regardless, there has to be a revelation of something more than your little plans. That’s how you really know you must change your journey and establish action.
To start a journey, a clear destination is needed so that we can strive toward a goal. Without a clear destination, we go round and round and are stuck in one place.
What this means for us
We find our roles in the journey by stepping into discomfort.
This could mean a trip to another country or a walk around the neighborhood; it depends on your context. What it doesn’t mean is you stay sitting on the couch.
Your journey begins when you take the initiative to be inconvenienced, eventually changed. Of course, if you don’t make the right choice, it just might be made for you whether it may be for health or other reasons. So wouldn’t it be better to be a little proactive?
Where we go from here
I don’t know where you are beginning your journey, but if you need a little nudge, here are three choices you could make today:
- Go for a 15 minute walk. Do it every day this week. It’ll get you in the habit and start changing your inaction. Plus it will make you feel better.
- Eat one less meal from a drive-through. Every meal counts.
- Go to the gym. Start with the basic compound movements-squat, deadlift, bench, military press, push-ups, pull-ups. Start light with 3-5 sets and 5 reps.
Of course, this isn’t the official three-step process to finding your calling – there is no such process – but it’s a start. And for many of us, that’s enough..for now.
“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” – Tony Robbins
Have you found your role in your life’s journey? Share with us how u have started your journey.