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By the end of today's episode, you will be empowered to not only identify,

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but embrace your very own Tour de France.

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Of course, that is simply a metaphor for your very own big, hairy, audacious goal.

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I'm talking about the thing that scares you, challenges you,

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but excites you like no other.

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Plus, the important thing is

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it's the thing that's going to ignite the greatness that's inside of you.

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My friend, welcome to the 316th episode of Grace and Inspiration.

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It is time that we tackle your big, hairy, audacious goal. Let's do it.

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Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life? Because those bad days,

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they're just doors to better days. And that's exactly what we do here at Grit,

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Grace, and Inspiration.

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Your host, Kevin Lowe, he's been flipping the script on his own life,

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turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight up inspiration,

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motivation, and encouragement just for you.

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So kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

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As we dive into today's episode, I want you to remember, when I'm talking about

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the Tour de France, I'm simply using it as a metaphor because,

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well, today's topic, it was inspired by Andy Smith.

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He was our guest back in our previous episode. That would have been episode 315.

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And as part of his story, we heard about him taking on the Tour de France at 50 years old.

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And at the time of signing up, the guy didn't even own a bicycle.

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So it is that that inspired today is that I've wondered what is some type of big goal,

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some type of big dream that you have that is maybe so big that you probably

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don't like to tell many people about it because deep down, you kind of feel

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like it's probably never going to come true anyways.

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And to be honest, it's a little too big, too scary that you just don't really

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even like to think about it.

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Well, today, my friend, I want to wake that big, hairy, audacious goal up,

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and I want you to put it at the forefront of your mind, because that is what today is all about.

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Just like Andy Smith, we all have our own Tour de France.

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It's a goal or dream so big that it feels like it's never going to happen.

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We're never going to make it come true.

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But here's the truth. Truth is your own Tour de France.

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It's where you're going to discover parts of you that you never knew before.

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You're going to get to discover what you're truly made of.

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You, my friend, are going to get to find your grit, your resilience.

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And, of course, your unshakable belief in yourself.

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It's not easy to accomplish or, well, it wouldn't be considered a big,

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hairy, audacious goal. It wouldn't be scary.

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No, that would just be like any other little task that you check off of the

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to-do list. This is bigger than all of that.

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So I ask you, what is that one big goal, that dream that you've been putting

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off, that you've not told anybody about, that you keep thinking that it will

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never happen, so therefore you don't even pursue it?

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Is it maybe starting that business you've been dreaming about?

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Is it maybe you finally writing a book that you've been talking about for years?

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Or maybe it's you just deciding to make some big changes in your life.

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Are you ready to lose a lot of weight?

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Are you ready to finally get in shape?

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Are you ready to simply take back control of life so that you can start living life on your own terms?

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What is it? What is that big, hairy, audacious goal for you?

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Now, what stops most people from ever accomplishing their goals is they never start.

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Because they get too overwhelmed. They don't understand where to begin.

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And so they don't do anything.

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I think we've all been victim to that at some point in our life.

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But the only way that we'll ever move forward is by taking one step,

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one step forward, and then another step, and another step.

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And at the time, it's gonna seem meaningless, like you're getting nowhere.

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But in fact, if you keep taking a step,

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well in a week in a month in a year you can look back and you can see the massive

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progress you've made it's the same thing with whatever goal you have in life

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you got to break it down you got to come up with incremental steps that you

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can take that will start moving the needle forward.

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Now, unless you're like, of course, Andy Smith, who signed up to race in the

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Tour de France, a three-week-long, drooling bicycle race with only about a month's notice,

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well, that's a whole other way to look at it, where you just dive in headfirst.

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Whichever way you want to go about it, whether you just throw yourself into

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the deep end or if you take baby steps, it's honestly up to you.

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The big point here in today's podcast episode is to get you thinking about putting

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that big goal back in the forefront of your mind,

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to stop pretending that you no longer care about it because you do, you know, you do.

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You just keep coming up with excuses why you shouldn't care about it or why it's not important.

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I know that probably hits pretty hard because you know that you've been making excuses,

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not that you've been telling them to other people, but excuses just within yourself,

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telling yourself and making yourself believe that it doesn't matter.

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I don't really care about that anymore.

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But the truth is, is that you do. And the truth is, is that you should.

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And I want to be that source of motivation to get you moving forward.

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Starting right now, right here, today.

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This moment is what I hope is the spark to get you moving forward.

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Now, I want you to remember that the journey to achieving your goal,

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of course, it's not always going to be easy.

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Of course, it's going to have ups and downs. It's going to have good moments,

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exciting times, and then it's going to have those other moments when you feel

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like nothing is happening.

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You're working towards it, but nothing is breaking through.

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Well, I can't help but think that it's so much like Andy Smith talking about

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his experience on the Tour de France.

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He had mountains that he was climbing when he thought, my goodness.

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He couldn't go any further.

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But then there are moments when he's soaring down the mountain,

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loving the feeling of the wind in his face.

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And then, of course, it's right back again up another mountain,

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another steep climb, more just burning in his lungs, dying for a drink.

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And yet he just kept pushing forward.

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And I want you to realize that in pursuit of this big goal, that's what it's all about.

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That's when you're going to get to discover who you are, when the odds are stacked against you.

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When people think that you can't, you're going to show them that you can.

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Because, well, of course, you're listening to this podcast. So if that's the

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case, well, then you already know that you got to sometimes cultivate a little

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bit of grit to get through the hard times.

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So here it is. Today's topic, it's not very complex.

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I don't need to make it very long. It's just literally asking you the question,

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what is the goal that scares you, that excites you, and that you know will make

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a big difference in your life if you achieve it? What is it?

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Declare it for yourself. Make it known right here and now what that goal is.

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Say it out loud. Write it down on a piece of paper.

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Put it in your heart and don't you forget about it. I don't want you to forget

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about it when this episode ends.

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No, I want this literally to

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be the spark that lights a fire that has you making your goal come true.

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And if you need a little bit of boost, well, you just remember this.

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My friend, whether you believe it or not, you're made for greatness because

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you have greatness inside of you.

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Sometimes you just got to pull on it to let it shine through.

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And honestly, what do you have to lose?

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You can either not do anything. You can keep pretending that you don't want to achieve that goal.

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You can keep pretending that it's not important to you anymore.

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Or you could actually give it a shot. You can make the most of this day.

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You can make the most of this life.

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We only get one chance at it. So why not make it count?

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If you would like a little bit of accountability, well, check out today's show

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notes where you will find a link right near the top where you can send me a voice message.

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This will be just between me and you. Send me a short voice message.

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Let me know what is your very own Tour de France, and let's get you underway.

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And, of course, I encourage you, as always, to stay awesome and live inspired.

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This is Kevin Lowe, and this, of course, was Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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Music.