How bad do you want it?

In his book “Life 101”, Author Peter McWilliams says “You can have anything you want in life, you just can’t have everything you want”. So let's be really clear - if you have a goal, it’s entirely within your power to make it happen.

You might not be able to have everything you want, but if you have a burning desire for something in particular you can make it happen. You just have to truly want it. If you don’t truly and deeply want it, then it’s just a dream.

So sitting there reading right now think about your goal. Do you truly want it? Bad enough to make sacrifices in other areas of your life? Because that’s what it takes. Any truly big goal will require sacrifices to make it happen.

Think about any top sports-person. To make it to the top they have to truly want it. It takes years of dedication to make it to the top. There are huge sacrifices and choices to be made. Those who truly want to be the best in their game are the ones who make those choices and sacrifices.

It’s the same in business, politics, and any other aspect of life. It is entirely within your power to make your goal happen. But you have to want it bad enough to make sacrifices. So have a think about your goal. How bad do you want it? Are you prepared to make sacrifices to any or all of these things:

• Family - taking time away from the family for training and recovery. Are they prepared to make the sacrifice too?

• Friends - a truly big goal may need your circle of friends to change. You might need to train with different people, not go to the pub every night after work with colleagues, or just recognise you’ll have less time with key friends.

"It takes years of dedication to make it to the top. There are huge sacrifices and choices to be made. Those who truly want to be the best in their game are the ones who make those choices and sacrifices."

• Money - your goal might require money to be spent. It might require you to forgo a new job or income opportunity. You might have to make short term choices around the way you life and how you spend your money.

• Food - food and nutrition is critical for athletes at the top of any sport. Are you prepared to learn new things about nutrition, try new approaches, or give up some of your treats?

• Comfort zone - are you prepared to get out of your comfort zone? A big goal will require new ideas and approaches, and will take you outside of your comfort zone on a regular basis.

• Success and failure - in reaching a really big goal you might fail several times along the way. Are you prepared to fail in order to learn and succeed in the long term?

The degree to which you need to sacrifice any of these things is directly related to how big your goal is and how bad you want it.

So take a moment to think about your goal. Is it big enough to scare you? Is it big enough to require sacrifices? And do you want it bad enough to make those sacrifices?

If you don’t want it bad enough that’s fine, however it’s time to stop dreaming.

But if you do want it bad enough then start start taking action - no more thinking or dreaming! 

Originally published in New Zealand Triathlon & Multisport Issue 106, October 2016.