Helen Keller had many physical limitations and despite being blind and deaf, she was able to understand and master language. Many thought that she would not be able to do much, and with the help of Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to communicate. She graduated from Radcliffe College with her Bachelor of Arts degree. Helen was noted for her writing, lectures, and politics. Though, it was her inspiration to move past her physical disabilities that she was famous for and portrayed in The Miracle Worker (based on her autobiography – The Story of My Life).

What limitations do you believe are holding you back? Will you decide to break through your limitations like Helen Keller did? Or will you let them rule your life?

Breaking through our limitations requires that we believe that we can and will. Trying to do something won’t make it happen. Helen Keller believed in what she can do and did it. What can you learn from her that will help you? Find a mentor or somebody that can help guide you towards a goal that you set for yourself. Helen had Anne Sullivan. After Anne passed away, Helen had developed all the skills and motivation to keep going. She had it inside of her to do it.

A mentor or a coach can see things in you that you may miss or don’t even know exist. There’s a process that you will go through to discovery those strengths. It is about what you can do as well as the rest of us can do that will drive one to new heights.

Part of that includes getting to know your personal values and beliefs that drive your behavior. Once you know that, then you’ll be able to set goals based on that. Your goals should also match your passion and purpose. A coach will find out what and how you are motivated. You could find out some of this on your own.

Some questions you could ask of yourself in determining what motivates you to do the things you do:

• Am I an “away from” or “moving towards” person? Do I tend to want to “run away” from something or do I want to “go after” a positive goal?
• Are you driven internally or externally? What is more important to you, what you feel inside or is there something on the outside (like what other people may think) that drives you?
• Are you a big picture person or are you into the small things/details? Do you want to break things into individual steps of a project or do you like to see the whole thing first?
• You tend to match or do you mismatch? Basically, do you tend to look at “what is alike” or do you tend to look at the differences?

Once you know your motivations, then you’ll be able to devise a plan of action that fits with what you believe and value. If you are more detail oriented, then a breakthrough would be to look at the big picture. Still, your basic drive would be to plan a step-by-step program to reach the next level. It would be the same with each of the motivators listed.

Ultimately, it is up to you to make the changes to break through in order to reach a higher level. You can do it so long as you can imagine it happening and take action on it. Getting the help of a mentor or a coach will help accelerate the process.  Helping You to a Higher Level of Performance and Fitness by Training the Mind and Body.