What drives me to perform?

This weeks blog comes from Sophie Radcliffe. Sophie is an adventurer who inspires people by taking on remarkable challenges but she’s also a brand ambassador, blogger and writer and this week she shares her story on her desire to perform.

I don’t know where it came from, this desire to perform, but I remember being raised with an awareness of potential. I remember being instilled with the belief that I could do something worthwhile with my life, and not wanting to waste it.

As we approach the end of the year, naturally we tend to review and assess what we’re proud of and what we are happy to draw a close on and move forward from. Making lists of these is always helpful, but I’ve started thinking about my underlying motivation to achieve that drives my projects and goals.

I often talk about ‘harnessing your why’ when giving motivational talks and how important it is to really understand why you do what you do in pursuit of your goals. Goals should be big and scary and they should be hard to achieve. They should challenge us and change us, but if our motivation is watertight and we really harness this, we massively increase our chances of achieving them.

Love The Work

What is it that drives me to perform? I love the toil of it, getting stuck in and actually getting the work done. Whether the performance challenge is an ultra endurance event, closing a key deal, or getting better at a skill that will help my business grow, I love the satisfaction of doing something that requires time, effort and energy. It’s hard to work hard and it feels great when we create results!

No Excuses

I am competitive, of course I am, but I am more competitive with myself than with other people. I have learnt that the more you put into life, the more life gives you. The harder I work, the more I push myself, the greater the challenge I set, the bigger the rewards. It’s addictive. Proving to yourself that you can achieve big things when you set your mind to it, is without a doubt the most amazing and empowering feeling in the world. But it comes with a responsibility; you can no longer sit back and accept things the way they are. You cannot tell yourself you are powerless. When you know you have the power to create change and overcome adversity and set backs, there is very little excuse for you not to go and do it.

My Greatest Fear

Fear is a thief. It will try to rob us of experiences, of growth, of happiness. It will stand in the way of us living our greatest life, if we feed it and give it half a chance. Each time fear tries to do this to me, to stop me from putting myself out there and trying something that may not work, I think of the fear that is greater than my fear of failure. My greatest fear is in not trying something whilst I had the chance. My greatest fear is in not living life to the full, in having regrets because I didn’t do something, didn’t push myself and find out what I was really capable of, and I do not want to live with the burden of regret.

Can you imagine getting to the end of your life and thinking “that was interesting, but I never really found out what I was actually capable of?” If that makes you feel a mild sense of panic, then commit to making changes to your life today.