Attack Your Goals Like Your Life Depends On It…Because It Does
Picture in your mind, the best version of yourself. What would you look like? Maybe you would have nice clothes, lots of friends, or be very wealthy. The best version of yourself is the consolidation of all of your life goals, big and small. If you cannot imagine this “perfect” self, then you need to stop reading this right now and figure out your top five goals to develop yourself, your business, and/or your relationships. There is a sense of comfort in knowing exactly what you want from this life. You have to be clear and real with what you want to achieve. One of my favorite mentors, Tony Robbins, says that clarity is power and focusing on the outcome of a goal is more important than focusing on the process. His idea is that as long as your brain and subconscious know what you are striving for, they will find a way to get you there.
My question for you is this: What separates those that achieve greatness from those that only strive or say they strive for it?
Is there some genetic advantage certain people have? Do those people have more and better opportunities than those who don’t achieve their goals? Maybe those that can’t seem to win in life are disadvantaged by those more fortunate than themselves.
No.
That is all a bunch of garbage. Yes, some people have advantages and some have disadvantages, but it is how you respond to these circumstances that either propels you past them into success or digs you into a hole.
Here is something to think about: some of the most successful people in the world started with absolutely nothing. They were living paycheck to paycheck and were not even sure that they were going to have food to eat each night. This constant struggle begins to eat away or scratch at something inside of you. This scratch can either deter you from thinking forward toward your goals or it can push you to achieve them.
People have gotten comfortable and lazy. The average quality of life has been rising (as it should) through the years and even with an impoverish income, you are still much better off than you would have been one hundred years ago, or even twenty-five years ago. That is just how it works. I am just as guilty of this comfort and laziness as anyone else. Why put myself out there and try something scary and new when I am making good money where I am working now? Why try to learn a new hobby, when I could just watch TV and relax? Why workout, when I am tired and just want to sleep?
We have lost our drive. I was talking with some people thirty or so years older than me and the topic of exercising was brought up of the youth in the America. These people could not believe how little they see kids playing outside. You never see people going to the park to play a pickup game of basketball or baseball. Maybe your experience is different from theirs, but they have a point. The upcoming generation is being raised with smartphones and video games. Their goals are unlocking achievements in a first-person shooter or getting one hundred likes on a social media post. To be honest, I see nothing wrong with social media or video games if they don’t take up a huge portion of your life, but it seems like they are almost consuming the lives of today’s youth.
I digress.
Do you still have that image of your “perfect self” captured in your mind? Good. Keep it there and think about him or her while reading this.
It is time to blur the line between you and the most successful people on the planet. The person in your mind right now is one of those people. It is you in the best state possible in your life. How do you cross over into that image and become the person you are seeing? Simple. You attack your goals like your life depends on it. Like THAT life depends on it. Your “perfect” version of you. There are many things you would sacrifice and do if your current life depended on it. Obviously staying within the bounds of objective morality and reflecting on the bounds of subjective morality, you should do whatever it takes because your life depends on it.
Do your future-self a favor and start working today for that person. Focus on the outcome you want and make a plan. That plan can change (as it should) as you go along, but the outcome should never. Make the sacrifices necessary for your future-self. Keep that person alive. Do not make decisions that put that life in jeopardy. You wouldn’t make decisions today that put your current life in jeopardy so why would this be any different.
Do not overthink this. Don’t say, “Aren’t we supposed to live in the now?” or “This sounds selfish, and I am not selfish.” You can live in the now. But, do not drift in the now. If you want a lesson in the habit of drifting through life, I recommend reading or listening to “Outwitting the Devil” by Napoleon Hill. Drifting through the now is what many people do with the warped idea that thinking ahead or reflecting on past decisions will somehow affect them. They are right, it WILL affect them! It is bad to worry about the future and dwell on the past, but reflection and planning can be constructive ways to ensure you do not put your future-self in jeopardy. On the topic of selfishness, I will only say this: developing yourself is only selfish when you do it with no one else in mind but yourself. Some of the most powerful motivators come from a drive to help the less fortunate, a drive to be better a spouse or parent or to grow spiritually as a human being. Do not fool yourself with selfishness. Make the decision to grow yourself to one day help others.
Think back to five years ago. Where were you? What was the overall state of your life? What goals did you have? How many of those goals came true?
You are the future-self of you from five years ago. Are you where you want to be in life? Do you now wish that the five-year-ago you was thinking about you now and your happiness? Five years is filled with 1,825 days with each having the time needed for an opportunity to change your life. Stop worrying about today’s you as much as your future you because it is your future self, assuming you play your cards right and discipline yourself, that will reap the benefits of your success.
Keep fighting the good fight, friends.
God bless.
-Matt Conflitti
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