Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, was interviewed on 60 Minutes recently and he said something at the 2:05 point of this video that made me think of you and the Christmas story.
Jeff said, "One of my visualizations for success, was that one day we would be big enough to have a forklift." He thought this 18 years ago when he was personally delivering books that were ordered online to the post office. Needless to say that today, Amazon has hundreds of forklifts and dominate the global economy in almost every area.
Mary received a visualization for success when Gabriel came to her in Nazareth as told in Luke 1:26-38. Too often, we jump to Luke 2 when referring to the Christmas story, but it really starts here. I wonder how many times Mary had to rely on this encounter and stay focused on her words back to Gabriel, "Here I am, the Lord's servant…let it be…" I wonder if she repeated to herself "remember what Gabriel said" as she realized there was no room in the inn, and that a feeding trough would have to hold her new baby. She had to trust her visualization for success and not give up.
In order to accomplish any goal, you have to have a clear vision of what success looks like. You may not have the perfect path (Amazon is on their 7th generation of warehouses), but you have to know what the end result will be. It would be great if Gabriel could visit us and spell this out in plain English, but that is probably not going to happen. We have to rely on our prayers, bible studies, life experiences, and support of family and friends to see clearly.
What does your visualization for success look like when you think about your training program? Why are you getting up early? Trying to eat cleanly? Enduring hard workout after hard workout? What's the payoff? What's the end result? These are very important questions to answer, especially as you embrace a lifetime of fitness. My answers differed greatly in my 20's, 30's, and now as I approach 41. But that is the beauty of a journey. This is a process that presents new challenges and new answers to these defining questions.
The path has to match the outcome. Your training program should progress you down this path. If you need help defining why you are training and establishing a visualization for success, please reach out to us!
Live with Strength!
Jason
