I'm reading a book called "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed about a woman who decided to hike along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) by herself. Her route would take her over a thousand miles and she had never backpacked in her life. What could go wrong?
As you can imagine, lots of stuff does go wrong. I won't tell you everything that happened, you will have to read the book. Or you could watch the movie starring Reese Witherspoon.
Thought I would share a couple of lessons that you can apply to your life that I got out of the book.
1. "Who's tougher than you?"
Along the trail, Cheryl developed a personal mantra to keep herself motivated and putting one foot in front of the other. She would say out loud, "Who's tougher than you? and then answer herself "No one!"
I thought that was a really awesome way to keep yourself motivated. She said even though she knew it was not true it still made her feel better and helped her push on.
What is a personal mantra you can develop to keep yourself going?
2. "You're doing great"
She meets a fellow hiker along the way who really buoys her spirits. He lets her know how amazing she is doing so far and to keep up the good work.
This one works both ways. First, you need people like that in your life. Someone who will lift you up and encourage you when you want to give up and give in. Second, you can be that person for someone else! If you notice someone who is giving it their all, struggling, and just trying to get by give them a word of encouragement. You never know how much it will mean to them.
3. "A mosquito, my libido"
At one point she is extremely bored, hurting, and needing something to take her mind off of things so she begins to sign Nirvana lyrics to herself over and over. She recites poetry. She does everything to take her mind somewhere else.
Your mind is an amazing thing. If you focus on the pain and tedium of a workout, it only seems to grow. But if you can take yourself elsewhere through music, laughter, literature, etc... you will be amazed at how much further you can go.
4. "If they can do it so can I"
She would see other hikers along the way and tell herself if they could do it, so can they. This is one I have used in my life several times. Most recently with taking jiu-jitsu. I thought I was the oldest one in there, until I met a guys who is 6 years older and doing great. If he can do it, so can I.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling like I had just been through 2 day football practice, it was 20 degrees, I was tired, didn't feel like going. But if Cheryl Strayed can hike over a thousand miles by herself, I can get through a 90 minute class. I went and had a great time.
When you go looking for inspiration, it turns out it is all around you.
