The Secret To Achieving All Of Your Goals
Guaranteed to work every, single time
I bet you’re as guilty as I am when it comes to following through on your goals.
The New Year comes and goes along with a brand new list of things I want to accomplish that year. Something happens and I lose sight of what I want and what it actually takes to get the things I want.
I’ll always have next year.
This is a problem. Every time you give up on your goals, you give up on yourself.
Every time you give up on yourself, you lose faith that you’re the type of person who can actually achieve anything you want.
“A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement.”
– Bo Bennett
I wanted to start a blog. For years I’d dreamt about what it would look like, what kind of posts I’d write and all of the possibilities that come along with having that type of platform.
Every couple of months, I’d find a surge of inspiration and re-do my entire site. I’d make an editorial calendar and start to write posts.
The anticipation of each re-launch was more exciting than the daily work required to successfully maintain and grow a blog.
Every time I posted I expected some kind of external validation. Every time that didn’t happen (which was never), I got discouraged and quit.
I’d write and post every day for a week and simply give up or lose motivation.
Looking back, I often think about where I would be if I had just stuck it out and kept posting on a consistent basis.
We always hear that consistency is key, but what does that actually look like in your every day?
Trust me when I say that consistency isn’t fun or exciting. It won’t get your adrenaline going or give you butterflies.
It’s your job to do the hard stuff anyway.
THE SECRET SAUCE
The most important thing is to never give up, never give in to circumstances, believe yourself, and to soldier on, no matter what’s in your way. -Luka Modric
You might think I’m here to talk to you about your daily habits or consistent action but I’m not. Although those are integral parts of achieving your goals, there is one thing that is almost sure to guarantee you success in achieving absolutely anything you put your mind to.
If you want to achieve all of your goals, you can.
Think about that for a minute… isn’t that exciting?
Let yourself feel what it’s like to have endless possibilities and options in front of you with the sureness of knowing you can have whatever you want.
The secret sauce to achieving any goal you put your mind to is to know with every fiber in your being that you will not quit.
You will not quit when you fail.
You will not quit when it gets hard.
You will not quit when people laugh at you.
You will not quit when you feel insecure.
If you know in your heart that you will never quit, you will understand that no matter what roadblocks you run into, you will still eventually get what you want.
FAILING IS NOT QUITTING
Successful people have learned to do what does not come naturally. Nothing worth achieving comes easily. The only way to fail forward and achieve your dreams is to cultivate tenacity and persistence. — John C. Maxwell
In January, I made a resolution for myself to get back into shape.
Between a trip to Cancun with my family, Christmas holidays and a 6 day trip to Las Vegas, I was about 14 pounds and one pant size.
It wasn’t my proudest moment, but I didn’t completely panic. I knew I wouldn’t give up on my nutrition and training program because I’d done this before.
When you take quitting off the table, it takes the pressure off.
What if I had questioned my pursuit for my goal? Even worse, what if I failed?
The thing is, I did fail. I failed over and over again. After my first 4 pounds, I was at a standstill.
Every weekend I struggled. I would lose a little, then gain it back. I wasn’t consistent and I was still making choices that didn’t align with my goal.
Finally, after 2 months of flip-flopping, I made better choices, fully committed to my program and broke my plateau.
Just because I kept failing does not mean I quit.
I simply “failed forward”.
The only time you truly fail is when you decide to quit. At that moment, you cut off any possibility of achieving your goal.
PERSISTENCE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT PATIENCE
You know that feeling you get when you want instant gratification?
You’ve finally chosen a goal and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with an “I want it now!” feeling.
That’s the fire inside of you talking.
The only problem is that the fire will die. It will die over and over again. It will be up to you to reignite it every single time.
True persistence cannot exist without patience.
When I found myself at a plateau with my weight loss, it took everything in me to go to the gym. When I was there I felt so out of touch with my body that I thought there was no point.
As a fitness and nutrition coach, I know better than to buy into this narrative. I always tell my clients to be patient and put in the work despite feeling completely unmotivated.
I kept pushing knowing full well I’d reap the benefits if I was patient enough.
I did and I am.
Patience and persistence are required to achieve anything worthwhile.
In conclusion
Any goal I’ve managed to reach has required patience, grit and several failures along the way.
As intimidating as this might feel to someone new to chasing down dreams, remember this:
You can never truly fail until you decide to quit.
The last time you failed, did you stop trying because you failed, or did you fail because you stopped trying?
Commitment makes you capable of failing forward until you reach your goals. Cutting corners is really a sign of impatience and poor self-discipline.
— John C. Maxwell
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