MOTIVATION - Pressing Limits

MOTIVATION – Pressing Limits


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – November 2009

Dr Joyce Brothers says “In each of us are places where we have never gone. Only by pressing the limits do you ever find them.”

Good Grief! It is said that as authors, wordsmiths and writers, we often write about what we most need to hear and quite honestly, this is never so true as it is right now. You see for years and years I have lived in a very safe space in my personal life and right now I am pushing the boundaries and pressing for ‘no’ limits. In some ways I am scared out of my wits and in another space it feels like I have shrugged off the velvet ropes that have kept me bound for so long. It is liberating and empowering and deliciously, enticingly scary. It feels as though every nerve ending is straining at its roots to stretch itself to its fullest capacity in order to achieve its ultimate goal.

Quite honestly I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Quite honestly I am petrified at what could happen next.
Quite honestly I wonder why it has taken me so long to get to this point – I cannot believe that it was fear alone or perhaps I don’t want to believe that I could allow fear to hold me captive for so long.

The point is though, I feel alive!
The point is I am really excited!
The point is, I am the author of my own book, the director and star of my own movie. The point is, that for the first time, in a very long while I am doing what is important for me.

The strange thing though is that I am always aware of me pushing the limits in my business capacity. My friend Tess Elsen of Tessen Enterprises (http://www.tessen.co.za) said at out monthly breakfast get together, that for years now, she has seen me work hard towards my goal, my focus has never waivered and my intention were very clear. Sure there were months when I wondered what the hell I was doing. Sure there were months when I did not know if there was enough money to put food on the table. Sure there were months when I faltered and fell, but I got up and shook my fists at the Gods and at the Universe and more often than not, even at myself, but I persevered. I knew that deep down in that place inside all of us that hears the truth, what it was that I wanted to achieve. I knew that what I wanted to achieve is right for me and I also knew that I could achieve it. It is within my grasp!

So if I knew all of this in my business life, why did I not know it in my personal life? Truth be told, how could I not know it in my personal life? Quite simple really – I think that in our business lives, we write “Business Plans”, we compile “Mission Statements” and live our professional lives by a business “Code of Conduct” and our personal lives just get the scraps that are left. The moments in time that are not focused on what we need to do in our professional capacity. It’s like we put the business before anything else.

Here’s the thing though – by leaving the ‘personal me’ behind, I am making it all that more difficult to achieve the ‘professional me’! Confusing as that may sound, Gemini or not, I am still one whole person and whichever side I neglect will have a pronounced affect on the other sides. I need, as a whole person, to be balanced.

In order to achieve that, I have to push the personal boundaries in much the same way that I push the business boundaries.

I have to ensure that I find those places inside of myself that I have never gone to and get myself there.
I have to ensure that I am never in my ‘comfort’ zone for too long.
I have to ensure that I am focused on what it is that I want to achieve.
I have to be all that I can be, at work, at play and as me.
I have to ensure that I live my life, my whole life for me.

What about you – do you push your limits?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za