Passionate Enough For The Challenge.

Recently, I've taken an interest in brain anatomy. My studies so far have confirmed what I've always believed: the brain could do extraordinary things once you challenge it. I've read stories about beating autism, learning disabilities, and sexual habits by challenging the brain to do something that it's not used to. 

Of course, these stories are all "underground," meaning that you won't hear them from mainstream medical media. You would always hear of some new (and very expensive) treatment for conditions such as dementia, stroke, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, etc., or some new drug that could "possibly" (key word) work some kind of magic. But you rarely (if ever) hear about people who "cured" themselves by simply challenging their brain.

One time while teaching CPR to a chiropractor, we started talking about unnecessary medical treatments that people go through. When someone experiences pain, they immediately rush to get drugs or surgery, thinking that their problems would be fixed. Little do such people know is that doing either is really taking a chance on your body: the surgery may fix you or permanently damage you, and the drug may relieve your pain or give you seizures. 

Both the chiropractor and I agreed that in general, people don't like to go through the necessary pain for natural healing. Instead of suffering with weight-training and intense brain exercises, they would much rather go to the doctors and receive a quick, yet uncertain, solution. 

Let me tell you, when you challenge yourself, it is NOT pleasant and it is very discouraging. When you don't see results soon enough, you would quickly believe that the "natural route" is useless and would run to the conventional route. But when you always go the easy route, you would eventually find that life is no longer pleasant. Instead of getting better, you would get worse and worse until you'd be forced to consider alternative routes. 

Right now, I am learning THREE languages all at once: German, Spanish, and Greek. Learning these languages has been fun, but when it's time to put my learning to work, then I get discouraged! But I know that I can't stop my journey, because I know that I have never challenged myself in this way before. Of course I will get frustrated! My brain is just so used to speaking English that any attempts to learn another language would seem like a challenge. Sometimes, I question why even bother learning another language when I really don't need to??? But if I truly want to make my brain do things that it has never done before, I will continue on this journey until I complete it. 

Challenges aren't pleasant, but they are rewarding.When you're able to do things that you've never done before, it feels good! The process of getting to that point is discouraging, and this is where many of us fail. We start the process, but then we turn back when the road gets too tough. Then we start lying to ourselves, thinking that there really is no point to this journey, that we are wasting our time, and that there is no other solution. 

In my Body Sculpt Challenge program, my number one focus is to push people to do something that they've never done before. Yes, these people have already had a healthy diet and exercised on a regular basis. But I take it a few steps further. People are solving their neck and back pain, dropping those extra 10 pounds, clearing up their skin, fixing their gut, and getting stronger and leaner. Many of us who eat healthy and exercise on our own could only achieve so much until we get uncomfortable with doing more. But once someone pushes you to do even more, that is when you truly see results that you haven't seen before. Or in other words, when you CHALLENGE yourself to do something that you've never done before, you would see results that would make you lost for words. 

So, the question is how willing are you to take a challenge that you've never taken before? How serious are you about fixing a long-term problem? What is it that you truly want to accomplish in this life? Things that are worth pursuing will come with intense challenges that you would have to go through. What if some painful back exercises is what you need to permanently fix your back? What if spending MONTHS (or even years) training your brain is what you need to do to fix your brain after having a stroke? What if giving up certain foods for 6 weeks would eventually cure you of [insert disease here]? Are you passionate enough to go through the pain of the challenge?

The next time you say, "I wish I could," I want you to add, "But I can't because I don't want the challenge." When you say that to yourself a few times, hopefully it would motivate you to say, "You know what, I'm sick of wishing for it. Let me just go for it!" Remember that if it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you.