Here’s the truth: most of us have no idea what we are doing. What will make us happy. What we want to do with our lives. We set goals because we think completing them will make our lives better. And at times they do. But many times, completing goals doesn’t have the result we desire. Putting time and effort into the wrong goal can leave us worse off than we started. And if we start the wrong goal and don’t achieve it, it can make us feel like failures. That’s why the whys are far more important than the goals themselves.
Here’s an example:
I have a goal to make this blog a sucess and profitable. Here are my why’s:
- Help people
- To be able to leave my job
- Build financial security
- Be able to travel
- Make my own schedule
- Be my own boss
- More time with loved ones
- Enjoy my work
- Get out of debt
- Be able to afford to buy a home
From there, you can branch even further. Why do I want to leave my current job? Because I want to spend my time and energy on work that I find personally fulfilling. Further, this will result in my being happier, improving my self esteem and self respect by doing work that I am proud of, make me look forward to each day, not have one eye on the clock while I work, and reduce my anxiety. So working to leave my job to do work that I feel personally rewarding will make me feel:
- Less anxiety
- More happy
- More motivated
- Proud
- Excited
Those feelings are the real goals. I have determined that starting a blog to help people build their dream life will result in those feelings. So every single day, I work towards this goal.
But, if I found that this path wasn’t leading me toward those whys, I would abandon it and make a new plan. This wouldn’t be a failure. It is invaluable life experience and education. By ruling out running a personal development blog as a means to the emotions I intend to feel daily, I am one step closer to finding the path that will lead me where I want to go. Suffice it to say, this blog isn’t the first thing I’ve tried to build my dream life, far from. But everything I’ve tried before has taught me lessons that aid me on my path and bring me closer to my dream life.
So when you set goals, write down your whys. Branch your whys as much as you can until you find your true motivations. And if you find your goals aren’t getting where you want to go, abandon them and take the lessons you learned along the way. Determining that the goal you set for yourself isn’t getting you where you want to go isn’t failure. It’s one step closer to your dream life.
