Hiking does make you feel powerful. Just the physical movement gets your blood flowing and then as you climb higher and higher you feel stronger.
Sure it is hard, but deep inside you feel power. It grows as you climb. Wait! Stop! How can the be? Ok, here are some ideas.
Mantras
Mantras keep you focused on the task at hand and not how difficult it might be. Here are my favorite, all of which I stole from somebody else. You can steal them from me if they fit.
Life is good. I am strong. I can do this all day long.
I’m strong and powerful. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
My body is my home. My home is my temple.
I’m strong, I thrive, at 165.
Measure your day by what you sow and not by what you reap
Find happiness in the short term misery of discipline so you don’t suffer the long term pain of regret.
When I am hiking I am saying these six mantras over and over again. They help me focus and I believe they get drilled into my subconscious.
Micro Goals
I may have talked about micro goals before. In the Unbeatable Mind community which Mark Divine began they are a staple. When it comes to hiking they are perfect. You feel a little tired or maybe a lot tired. So you pick a rock or a tree up ahead and just tell yourself you are going to go as far as that tree. Of course you keep going after you get to it. Then set another micro goal.
Eventually after you have set enough micro goals you will reach the top. Then it is time to back down and that is not as easy as it seems at first. So set some micro goals then as well. Now go hiking!
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