Why you need to be pushed BEYOND your limits

I love this guy! There’s so much I could say about Walt Zajkowski. I respected him the first time I met him as a part of the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment Best Ranger Teams. And my admiration for him has only grown over the years.

I’m a fan of anyone willing to try the grueling David E. Grange Best Ranger Competition! A guy who has won the competition more than once and still returns to compete the next year is either a glutton for punishment or has found something in this competition that you can’t find in many other aspects of life. As an eight-time competitor in one of the world’s toughest endurance races, Walt Zajkowski is in a league of his own.

During my recent Unbeatable podcast interview, Walt and I shared some of our greatest memories of this competition. But more than swapping “glory days” stories, we both talked about how this competition prepared us for life’s greatest challenges.  No matter the challenge, Walt is a guy who has lived his life by the Best Ranger philosophy, “Give it everything you’ve got- or just go home!”

Few people are willing to push themselves to the level that Walt has. Unfortunately, that means few people will ever learn the powerful life lesson that Walt has discovered by pushing beyond his limits while living this philosophy. Here are the three biggest reasons you should be willing to go beyond your limits occasionally.

Most people are much stronger than they realize because they’ve never had the opportunity to push themselves to their absolute limits… and beyond. Few people will realize their potential because they never allow themselves to be in circumstances that can show their potential.

The biggest single reason people are unwilling to go beyond their limits is fear of failure. Pushing beyond your limits is a virtual guarantee of failure. You haven’t discovered your ultimate potential until you have gone beyond your limitations and to the point of failure. However, only after being pushed beyond your limits will you find your true capabilities. Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from discovering your true potential.  

Only you can determine your true capabilities. However, you will never know what those true capabilities are unless you are pushed well beyond your greatest limits. Going beyond your abilities will show you your actual limits. This is one of the reasons why I am a massive fan of the Best Ranger Competition. Few events in life will test a person’s mettle to the extent of this competition.

Learning your true capabilities is a priceless treasure. When you know your true limits, you also know what you are capable of. As your capabilities grow, so does your capacity! Most people would give outrageous sums of money if it would make them far more capable of handling challenges in the future.

You don’t have to spend money to push yourself beyond your limitations. Learning your actual capabilities is both free and priceless, but only comes after pushing beyond your own limits.

People who overcome enormous obstacles are far more capable of handling challenges in the future. Marathon runners will base future challenges on the difficulties of completing the last marathon. People who summit the world’s tallest mountains will compare future challenges to those prior accomplishments. The same is true when you have pushed beyond your capabilities and learned your true limits.

We all need a healthy dose of perspective.  Sitting at home watching reality television can never tell you your true capabilities. Moreover, it will not show you your true limitations. Perspective only comes when you have been pushed beyond anything you thought possible and still found the strength to rise to the occasion.

Everyone should live their life by Walt’s Best Ranger philosophy. Discover your true capabilities by pushing yourself beyond your limits. Whatever challenge you face today, give it everything you’ve got, or go home.