The opening bars of Rick Ross’ “Rich Forever” off of the Rich Forever mixtape is my favorite track of his of all time. The opening grabs my attention everytime: “I remember being blind to it / till the day I put my mind to it…” There is truth in those Rick Ross lyrics.
Be clear y’all, I’ve never really been a “true” Rick Ross fan. When you’re a fan of an artist, you go out of your way to attend their shows, wear their merchandise and spread the gospel of their movement to your friends. Now Outkast? I am an Outkast FAN—I own every album the duo has ever released, have seen them in concert a couple of times and even still have pieces from the now defunct Outkast clothing line.
Despite being a non-Rick Ross fan, there is something about his music and lyrics on certain tracks that are enough to make me want to listen to his music. I used to think it was the fact that Rozay has near flawless production on >80% of his tracks. But now, I know it’s deeper than that. Rick Ross has a way with words that draw me in.
Back in January of this year, I set my mind to accomplish a goal of running 1000 miles in 2014. Back then, it seemed almost impossible. I thought about it for a while and then decided to actually do it. Once I made up my mind, I figured at minimum that setting the 1000 mile goal would help motivate me to keep running, continue marathon training and living an active lifestyle.
Last week I hit the 800 plus miles ran in 2014 milestone. I now only have 200 miles more to run in 2014 to hit that 1000 mile goal.
Over the weekend, I gave some thought to the 1000 mile goal and the past couple of months of running. I realized that back in January, wanting to achieve the goal wasn’t enough. Don’t get me wrong — setting the intention was a very important part. Equally as important however, was actually taking action to achieve the goal.
I wrote a bit about setting intentions and taking action in a networking post [READ: 5 Quick Non-Conventional Tips For Networking At Events Where You Don’t Know Anyone]. However this is the first time I’ve realized the correlation between intention setting, taking action and running.
Once the 1000 mile goal was set, I continued to run as usual, but this time, I began keeping track of the mileage. Mind y’all, I’ve been running two plus years but this is the first year I’ve ever kept up with miles ran. Once I started keeping tracking of the miles, it felt good to seeing them adding up. A key component of certain fitness and meal programs is to keep track of your workouts and intake. I can now see why this is so important. How can you really know what has been achieved if you’re not tracking it? In addition, how can you measure something if it’s not being tracked?
I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that setting intentions AND taking action are key components to achieving just about any goal. I also believe that Rick Ross was on to something with those opening bars of “Rich Forever”. Just know that I’m still not a Rick Ross fan though.
What about y’all? Have you ever set a goal and then realized the connection between setting an intention and taking action? I’d love to hear from you and read your comments below.
Y’all can connect to me via Twitter (@nancioishiphop), Instagram (@nancioishiphop), Facebook (Nanci O Is Hip Hop) and the blog for all running updates.
Like this post? Please take the time to share it with your friends. Thank you.
#RapOnTheRun