Set Goals & Challenge Yourself by Leigh Martinuzzi

“I like to challenge myself. I like to learn – so I like to try new things and try to keep growing.” David Schwimmer

I enjoy challenging myself. I am a casual but regular swimmer. My usual swim is 2.5 kilometres. I don’t push myself although on occasions I get the motivation to put in an extra bit of effort. On average, a casual two and a half kilometre swim would take me a little under fifty minutes.

Recently, I went for a swim on a day that was not my typical schedule. I had limited time, so I set myself the challenge of doing as many laps I could. I managed to do 60 laps (1500 meters) in about twenty-six and a half minutes.

The challenge made me feel good, and I wondered, “How fast could I swim a 1500-meter sprint if I did some more practice and challenged myself.” That become my challenge. I revamped my passion and obsession for swimming.

I did some research and found Henry Taylor set the first world record with a time of 22:48 seconds in 1908. And since then swimming has come a long way. Sun Yang holds the current record of 14:31, set in 2012. Okay, so I had some work to do, but that didn’t deter me.

I made it a personal challenge to swim 1500 meters twice a week and see how much I could improve. On the first attempt, as painful as it felt, I took one and half minutes off my previous best, making it about twenty-five minutes. Not too bad! It became my new average.

“When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way.” Dalai Lama

After a couple of months, my best attempt was just under twenty-four minutes. I haven’t given up. I do two additional 2.5 kilometre swims a week. I use these to focus on technique, and although I don’t have a coach, it seems to help a little. I self-coach in swimming and life – mostly!

On the days I didn’t feel up to the swim, I appeared to perform better. Not sure why this mindset increases my efforts, but it does. On one of these days where I was almost to the point of not going at all, I managed to do my 2.5 kilometres in forty-three and half minutes. That was a considerable effort, and my personal best at the time.

This story a reminder of why that when we challenge ourselves, even if the improvements seem marginally small, the discipline and practice that come through challenge can lead to significant improvements in all areas of our lives.

Challenge is grand. It pushes us beyond our comfort zones. It allows us to break specific mental and physical pain thresholds. It enhances muscle, skill and improves our techniques and all these things have a ripple effect on across other areas of our life.

Tim Ferriss once said that a straightforward discipline, such as making our bed every morning, can lead to stronger control in daily life. It works! Setting yourself a challenge works similarly.

I realise that if you want to remove the suffering from your life, you have to challenge yourself. If you set goals, daily, weekly, for the next fifty minutes – you will find purpose. It will give you a sense of meaning. It will result in growth and self-enhancement. You will finish feeling accomplished.

Success isn’t a result of external measures pushed on us from societal expectations. Success is the result of breaking our limits and pushing ourselves beyond our current story and self-perception. Success is to strive for improvement and progress.

Challenge yourself every day in any way you wish. Set a new goal. Focus on mastering something new. When we set a new goal, it forces us to challenge ourselves. Big or small, each challenge will teach us something new. The building blocks of our transformational journey towards living a meaningful life.

“You might win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you challenge yourself, you become a better man, a better individual, a better fighter.” Conor McGregor