So I just made my way through the book, “How Badly Do You Want It?” It’s a great book talking about how athletes can master the psychology of mind over muscle and accomplish their dreams.

In the book author Matt Fitzgerald, tells the story of World Champion triathlete, Siri Lindley. Siri had a goal of winning the title of World Champion. Although she was ranked the best in the world, she would choke every time at the world championships. She wouldn’t even make it to the podium. She dreamed of winning the World Championship. It was her sole focus all year, and she choked.

Has this ever happened to you? You have one goal that you’ve been working on for a long time.  Whether it’s losing weight, getting a better PR, or even as simple as getting a better credit score. You have done a lot of hard work, but you end upfalling short no matter how hard you try. There’s a piece of advice from this book… let go of your dream.

Siri Lindley will tell you that the best piece of advice that her coach gave her was sometimes you need to “let go of that dream and find contentment in the personal transformation that is the deeper ambition. The act of letting go will enable you to fulfill your dream.”

You are stressing too much over reaching the goal “destination” that you’ve forgotten the joy is actually in the journey of getting there. And as a believer in Christ, maybe you are putting too much emphasis on the goal that you are missing what God is trying to teach you along the way.

As I look back at my weight loss journey, the journey was far more enjoyable than the destination of being 120 lbs. Because the weight loss journey was what God used to teach me the things I hope to share here on Fit Theology. I want you to experience the same joy and learning that comes from the journey, so here are the two things Matt Fitzgerald lists in his book to help.

1. Gratitude, he says, is about letting go of desired outcomes and fully embracing the privilege and process of pursuing goals and dreams.

We see this in Colossians 3:17 when it says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”Whether you are trying to lose weight, get a better PR or a better credit score, be thankful for the privilege of being in the journey of pursuing that goal because there are people out there unable pursue the goal at all due to finances, health or other reasons. This is a wonderful opportunity you have to take all God has given you and to do something that glorifies God with it.

2. Belief, he says, is the confidence that arises naturally through the journey process. It builds a self-trust that is the antithesis of the doubt-fueled fixation of goals and dreams.

Believe that with God, you can make consistent steps towards your goal. If the Lord wants you to achieve that goal. Sometimes the goals we have are either: A) not good for us, B) they don’t have good intentions behind it, or C) they simply have the wrong timing. So it is important for you to ask the Holy Spirit whether the goal is good and timing is now. He might need you to learn something before working toward your goal.

I hope this gave you some things to ponder. I encourage you to find ways to be thankful for the privilege of the “journey” and to focus on believing that you can do this with God’s help. If you have any personal experiences of your journey towards a goal, please write me in the comments below. Let’s encourage each other through our testimony. As always, have a great day everyone.