For me, I’ll choose the former and not become a statistic in about 2 months. But, in order to make sure I don’t become sucked into the mediocrity of this world, I’ll have to take careful notice of why I set these goals in the first place.
Remember those Goals?
Yes, those goals: the ones you set maybe a month ago…or even just days ago. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten them by now. Or maybe it’s just one resolution that you will not stay in your sweatpants all weekend long, every weekend. Whatever your goals and resolutions for this year, you’ll quickly fall off the bandwagon of “gung-ho” unless you think back to why you set them. Was it part of a larger goal? Was it a bet? Maybe just something you’ve been “planning” to do for years? Seriously, why did you decide on the ones you have? I’ll venture to guess that there’s more to it than just a whim of a decision. I’d bet you had a much deeper reason for wanting to make such a drastic change. Or maybe it’s just a minor change—that’s okay too, but you have a deeper reason than “just because” or “I felt like it.” …or at least you should! Goals with no essence behind them are useless, and you will undoubtedly fail to meet them. Why? Because there’s no solid passion behind it. And I know you have passion, right?
What You Stand to Lose.
You stand to lose quite a bit actually. If you’re betting with someone, you’ve already got the stakes figured out. Maybe you’ll have to serve them breakfast in bed for a month straight or do laundry for 8 weeks without complaining. I don’t know what your wager is but I know you don’t want to lose. Aside from those who have wagers in place, there are those of us who don’t necessarily “lose” a bet, but do lose if we don’t meet our goal. There are those of use who wouldn’t get the satisfaction of achieving that thing we set out to do—we wouldn’t get the sense of accomplishment or the ability to move onto bigger and better things after achieving success in our chosen scenario. Yes, we all stand to lose a lot by not reaching that goal we’re striving for. So the question again falls back to “why?” Why did you set that goal? Why do you even care? Why have you forgotten to remember why you set it in the first place? Or have you?
The Takeaway.
There is just one thing that must be remembered for everything we do in life: whether it’s setting a goal, working through a strategy, painting, reading or anything else, we always need to start in one place. That one place isn’t physical—in fact, it’s more emotional than anything. The one place where all our aspirations should start is “why.” I ask you to remember this question as you progress through the year. Don’t neglect why you picked that goal in the first place; don’t look back in 4 months after working on it only to forget why you started. Keep “why” at the beginning of all you do, and you’ll always know exactly where you’re going. Remember why. Is remembering why you set a goal in first place something you have experience with? What other pitfalls can you think of that cause people to fail their goals? Featured photo credit: magic tree via Shutterstock
