In his book, Finding the Life You’ve Always Wanted, best-selling author John Ortberg uses a sports metaphor to explain a tried and true method to maximizing your motivation.

He says, “Suppose you woke up tomorrow morning and decided to run a marathon. You put on some running shoes, don the right apparel, and head out the door to begin your 26.2 mile run. Could you do it? What if you tried hard? Really, really hard? If you gave it the ole’ 110%? The obvious answer is, for most of us would be no, of course not.”  

“Too often, we “try to do better” in an area of life. The problem is that trying won’t get us any closer to our goals. Only training will do that.”

No matter how hard we try, most of us couldn’t simply head out the door and run 26.2 miles. If we want to run a marathon, we’re going to have to train for it. Effort alone just won’t cut it.

But what if you woke up each morning and trained to run a marathon by following an exercise program, a running schedule, and a recovery...

No matter how hard we try, most of us couldn’t  simply head out the door and run 26.2 miles. If we want to run a marathon, we’re going to have to train for it. Effort alone just won’t cut it. 

But what if you woke up each morning and trained to run a marathon by following an exercise program, a running schedule, and a recovery schedule? Almost anyone will have the ability to successfully complete a marathon. That’s the difference between training and trying.

The key is to train for what you want! Training requires action and a shift in mindset.It involves taking small intentional steps that in the end add up to remarkable results!

This week as you look for practical ways to fuel your potential, ask yourself what area of your life would you most like to change and have you been training or just trying in that area?” 

Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve been just “trying” and not formally “training”. We’ve all been there! This realization could be your first step in helping to establish...