Being ‘all in’ works, but you have to go through this first.
I’m learning the hard way that goal achievement requires discrimination.
More is not better if you actually want to move out of dreams and into reality. We must decide what is the actual one goal this year that is worth the cost. What is the one goal that will fill us up the most just by going after it?
Once that goal becomes clear and it will if you ask yourself honestly, we then are going to give our maximal focus to and recommit to it on a daily basis.
He who chases two rabbits catches none.
But arguably just as if not more important than deciding which goal to go after is being appropriately prepared for your goal-achieving journey.
You definitely increase your chances of acquiring the goal if you’re fully committed. However, if you haven’t prepared for your trip to climb a metaphorical mountain, it doesn’t matter how much time and energy you spend, the goal will eat you for breakfast.
Goals are great to have, but before we go after them we need a healthy dose of realism and self-awareness that can be difficult to face. There are some important clarifying questions to ask before undergoing any serious challenge, let’s take a look at a few.
- Where are we trying to go?
What is a quantifiable point that tells us we reached the goal? What are the milestones along the way that show us we’re on track? What is the ultimate change or transformation we are looking to achieve as succinctly as possible?
2. Where are we starting from?
Have we ever done anything like this before or are we starting on a new endeavor from absolute scratch? In terms of the major assets skills, contacts, capital what do we have that we can start with?
3. Why this goal in particular?
What are we giving up by pursuing this goal? What are the other possible goals that we are saying no to that are lesser than this particular goal? How does this goal lead to other smaller goals being either accomplished or removed as a result?
4. Who has walked this path (or similar) before?
How did they approach starting? What beliefs did they have at the point of starting? What was their overall methodology? How closely can we model it? How much of their methods are applicable to us vs not applicable.
5. What will I do when I face something unknown?
What will I do to get back on track? How can I turn this into a repeatable, continuously improving protocol? To what extent am I willing to adapt my personality to rise to the challenges to reach this goal? How will I remember my ‘getting back on track’ protocol?
6. How will I keep going and not get complacent when things go well?
Why will I not stop? How will I at least maintain my pace? How can I keep improving if I’m outperforming my predicted levels of success? What belief traps do I fall into when I’m ahead of schedule?
7. Why now?
Why is this goal both urgent and important? What are the underlying reasons to make this goal my number one priority? What will I have to delegate or delete in order to make room for this goal in my schedule?
8. What do I stand to gain if I’m just 10% successful?
Who might I become if I step into this journey? What are things I will have to confront by going on this journey? What new skills will I have to develop as a result of committing to this journey?
9. What do I stand to lose if I don’t act at all?
What will I be giving up if I don’t commit to this journey? What will I be missing out on in terms of skills, contacts, experiences if I don’t act? How heavy will the regret level be if I don't act on this goal now?
Now by no means is this an exhaustive list of clarifying questions, but they will certainly get you thinking about what is important to you and if the goals you’ve been thinking about going after are actually too small and not exciting enough.
Perhaps you need to think bigger or perhaps you just need to act, whatever the case may be, going through this deep dive first is a great way to make sure that you actually follow through and get where you’re trying to go.
