Double Dog Dare

People who know me, know that I’m a little competitive.  I’m the kind of person that likes a good challenge or competition.  It’s a motivator for me.  Sort of like “I dare you, I double dog dare you!”  That’s how I see goals, like I’ve double dog dared myself.  I realize it sounds silly but, it works for me.

So last night was an education and I need it!  It involved A LOT of self-talk, “Jess, don’t quit on yourself “and “Jess, don’t quit on your goals.”  Let me back up a little bit and give you some back story.  I have been participating in a women’s beginner tennis clinic since January of this year.  In addition to a private lesson once a week.  I’ve been working towards a goal I set for myself.  My goal: play league tennis this year!  So I made a list of tasks I would need to accomplish to make this happen.  I had been socially taking a group tennis lesson with friends last year and absolutely loved it.  I referred to it as one of my “adult play dates” which consisted of one hour of tennis lesson and a few hours of drinks, appetizers and catching up with friends.  I genuinely needed this time since I work from home and miss the socialization of the office/workplace atmosphere.  However, if I wanted to play league tennis, I need to buckle down and get serious about improving my tennis game and that’s just what I did.

In the last two weeks, I moved from the woman’s beginner tennis clinic to the woman’s intermediate tennis clinic.  The first week went well, I was feeling good about how I was playing.  However, I got a reality check, education and a humbling experience this week.  I played horrible, I couldn’t run down a lob to save my life.  I didn’t stand a chance against the cross court volleys either.  Don’t even get me started about the ladies I was playing against.  They played with such efficiency and grace.  I’m not sure they even broke a sweat.  They were hitting so many great shots against me and I could barely get my racquet on some of the balls.  To sum it up, I sucked……..big time!!!  However, instead of walking away defeated like I probably should have.  I walked away with a list of things I need to work on and a new motivation to get better and learn from my defeat.  I knew when I set out with my goal to play league tennis this year, I would likely fail along the way.  Some nights have been really ugly on the court.  However, some nights have been amazing.  I’ve come home and talked my husband’s ear off about how I learned something new or how it all came together and I was successful on the court that night.  I’m sure I will fail again before I reach my goal but, it will make it that much sweeter when I finally succeed.

I double dog dare you to challenge yourself.  Maybe for you it’s a physical challenge like playing tennis, or maybe it’s something like going back to school.  It could be something as simple as challenging yourself to get your shower completed in under two songs on your playlist……..and yes, I’ve done that too.  Share with me what one of your goals are for this year.  Putting it out there might just be the motivation you need to take action on it.