Helter Skelter

I used to love riding my mountain bike up and down hills in my old neighborhood.

Believe it or not, I used to really enjoy going up hill. Getting into a rhythm, putting my bike in the lowest gear possible, and just slowly cranking up the hill.

A combination of breathing, sweating, working and an expectation of FLYING back down the hill once I got to the top was a pretty cool feeling.

The combination of endorphins, which comes with heavy exercise, and flying down a hill faster than it would be safe to stop in a hurry on a bicycle is a powerful mix.

Perfect Slope

There was one really big, long hill was ideal. It was steep, it was long, and there were NO traffic lights, until it flattened out considerably at the bottom. Meaning I could just let loose, and not worry about having to stop in a hurry. I would routinely get over 50 MPH on my mountain bike just coasting downhill.

Going up, though, I sometimes ran into problems. Especially if I was going up some hills in an area I’d never been before.

I would be going up this long hill that LOOKED like I was coming up to a top, but then when I’d gotten to the top, I was faced with another long hill.

Now, when I KNOW how long the hill is, I can mentally prepare. But when I THINK the end is near, and it’s really not, that becomes a problem.

Powers of Self Deception

That’s when I learned to “trick” myself. Instead of thinking the top was near, I just saw it as a point to reevaluate where I was. If it WAS a top, great, I’d ride down and have some fun. If it WASN’T a top, I’d rest, look back at how far I’d come, drink some water, and then keep on moving up.

The same thing happens with self improvement. We can delude ourselves into thinking that ALL WE NEED is one more product, one more seminar, one more “thing” and our lives will be set.

But the truth is that our lives are on a continuous path that NEVER peaks. We just keep getting better and better.

Once I stopped imagining that I was almost done, and just figured I’d accept whatever was ahead, I had a LOT more energy.

You’re Never Done

See, if you THINK you’re almost done, but you’re really not, it’s pretty tough to keep going.

But when you see every step, every process, every discovery, every experience as something as BOTH an end, AND a means, you’ll have TONS more energy to just keep on going.

The more you learn, the more you get. The more you get, the more you’ll want to learn. A fantastic cycle of continuous improvement that you can carry with you your entire life.

Here’s another POWERFUL tool you can use: