Success. How do you define it?
A lot of people tend to associate success with making a lot of money.
While it never hurts to make a ton of money doing something that you love, money isn't everything. It's A LOT of things, but not everything. Remember this.
Think of a handful of people you know or may have heard of that have become successful, whatever that means to you.
What do you think all of those people have in common? I can promise you they just didn't wake up one day to a stack of cash, master of a skill or trade, or having one of the best physiques known to man.
You may say they all had to work hard to achieve their level of success, and this is true, but beyond working hard they all did this:
They set goals.
This seems simple enough, right? But it's more than just saying you want something.
While you've probably always been told to "shoot for the stars" and "set the bar high", this isn't always the best plan of action when you're looking to become successful.
The power of setting goals is not in the long term, but rather in the short term.
A lot of people tend to associate success with making a lot of money.
While it never hurts to make a ton of money doing something that you love, money isn't everything. It's A LOT of things, but not everything. Remember this.
Think of a handful of people you know or may have heard of that have become successful, whatever that means to you.
What do you think all of those people have in common? I can promise you they just didn't wake up one day to a stack of cash, master of a skill or trade, or having one of the best physiques known to man.
You may say they all had to work hard to achieve their level of success, and this is true, but beyond working hard they all did this:
They set goals.
This seems simple enough, right? But it's more than just saying you want something.
While you've probably always been told to "shoot for the stars" and "set the bar high", this isn't always the best plan of action when you're looking to become successful.
The power of setting goals is not in the long term, but rather in the short term.
It's easy to set a goal like saying "I want to one day make a lot of money" or "someday I'd like to do such and such...", but in reality, most people never accomplish these far sighted dreams, and the ones who do, know how to set short term goals.
Short Term Goals
If you're looking to be successful, setting short term goals frequently is something you need to be doing. Not only is it a boost of positive reinforcement to achieve these smaller goals, but it keeps you on track and paves a path for where you ultimately want to end up. You can't just decide to do something all whilly-nilly one day with no real plan of action. If you don't believe me, try it and see how it works out for you.
When it comes to fitness and health, most people fail terribly when it comes to achieving their goals. Why is this? Because they set high, unrealistic goals for themselves and become discouraged along the way when progress stalls or when the going gets tough?
And when the going gets tough, the short-term goal setters get going!
A realistic example here is weight loss. Most people will say "I want to lose 10 pounds", then jump head first into a diet that becomes painfully unsustainable and marathon like workouts which aren't suited to their specific goals. They end up getting burned out quickly and discouraged from continuing all together. I know, I've been there.
The remedy to this common problem comes in the form of: yup, that's right, setting short term goals.
Instead of waking up one day and starting that "fresh new fad diet" that requires you to cut out a lot of food you enjoy and workouts you dread, start by making small adjustments to your daily routine. If you don't excersise regularly, start taking brisk walks in the morning a few days out of the week. Then tell yourself you're not going to stop and McDonald's on the way home tonight. Getting the ball rolling is all it takes. The longer you continue down a path hitting milestones and small accomplishments along the way, the easier time you'll have getting to your big, long term end goal.
The classic Newtonian physics cliche to say here is "a body in motion tends to stay in motion".
Once you see yourself making progress and hitting your goals on a day to day basis, you'll continue to stay motivated.
If you're looking to be successful, setting short term goals frequently is something you need to be doing. Not only is it a boost of positive reinforcement to achieve these smaller goals, but it keeps you on track and paves a path for where you ultimately want to end up. You can't just decide to do something all whilly-nilly one day with no real plan of action. If you don't believe me, try it and see how it works out for you.
When it comes to fitness and health, most people fail terribly when it comes to achieving their goals. Why is this? Because they set high, unrealistic goals for themselves and become discouraged along the way when progress stalls or when the going gets tough?
And when the going gets tough, the short-term goal setters get going!
A realistic example here is weight loss. Most people will say "I want to lose 10 pounds", then jump head first into a diet that becomes painfully unsustainable and marathon like workouts which aren't suited to their specific goals. They end up getting burned out quickly and discouraged from continuing all together. I know, I've been there.
The remedy to this common problem comes in the form of: yup, that's right, setting short term goals.
Instead of waking up one day and starting that "fresh new fad diet" that requires you to cut out a lot of food you enjoy and workouts you dread, start by making small adjustments to your daily routine. If you don't excersise regularly, start taking brisk walks in the morning a few days out of the week. Then tell yourself you're not going to stop and McDonald's on the way home tonight. Getting the ball rolling is all it takes. The longer you continue down a path hitting milestones and small accomplishments along the way, the easier time you'll have getting to your big, long term end goal.
The classic Newtonian physics cliche to say here is "a body in motion tends to stay in motion".
Once you see yourself making progress and hitting your goals on a day to day basis, you'll continue to stay motivated.
Long Term Goals
With your short term goals and accomplishments being met regularly, it's almost a sure thing you'll achieve that oh so distant long term goal, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
In my personal experience and from what I've gathered from successful people I admire, reaching your ultimate goal comes down to this:
PASSION.
Anyone who has gotten to where they've wanted to be all had passion in what they were doing.
Most people I meet and work with seem to drift listlessly through their lives, with no real spark or imagination towards anything going on in their lives.
This truly is the saddest thing someone can become, and I never want to know the feeling of not having a purpose. It's understandable that some people take longer than others to find out what they really love, but maybe these people haven't really spent enough time thinking about what they want out of life, or have found something that peaks their interests enough to pursue it.
Even I sometimes question if what I'm passion it about really are my true passions, as they test my emotions and resiliency more than anything else on this earth (even girls). But this is how I know it's real.
Passion is something hard to describe.
It's a bunch of intangibles that come together that manifests itself as ambition and motivation towards accomplishing something that you really desire.
...Okay, maybe not that hard to describe.
But still, I feel that little explanation does not do it justice.
I like to compare passion to falling in love: You may not have complete control over it, but when it hits you, you're captivated. And the only way to know if it's real and meant to be is to pursue it.
What do you have to lose?
With your short term goals and accomplishments being met regularly, it's almost a sure thing you'll achieve that oh so distant long term goal, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
In my personal experience and from what I've gathered from successful people I admire, reaching your ultimate goal comes down to this:
PASSION.
Anyone who has gotten to where they've wanted to be all had passion in what they were doing.
Most people I meet and work with seem to drift listlessly through their lives, with no real spark or imagination towards anything going on in their lives.
This truly is the saddest thing someone can become, and I never want to know the feeling of not having a purpose. It's understandable that some people take longer than others to find out what they really love, but maybe these people haven't really spent enough time thinking about what they want out of life, or have found something that peaks their interests enough to pursue it.
Even I sometimes question if what I'm passion it about really are my true passions, as they test my emotions and resiliency more than anything else on this earth (even girls). But this is how I know it's real.
Passion is something hard to describe.
It's a bunch of intangibles that come together that manifests itself as ambition and motivation towards accomplishing something that you really desire.
...Okay, maybe not that hard to describe.
But still, I feel that little explanation does not do it justice.
I like to compare passion to falling in love: You may not have complete control over it, but when it hits you, you're captivated. And the only way to know if it's real and meant to be is to pursue it.
What do you have to lose?
Setting an accomplshing goals is never going to be easy.
But if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it.
It just comes down to a matter of how bad you want it, how hard you're willing to work for it, and how passionate you are towards reaching your destination.
This all may be redundant and old news to most of you who keep up with my posts, but it's always good to get a swift kick in the pants some days by life to get you back on track.
I've struggled with my own personal issues lately regarding my ambitions and goals, and even had a few setbacks.
But no matter how many times you get bucked off that horse, fall of your skateboard, miss the kick, or whatever cliche you want to use for trying again, you NEVER give up.
All you do is take a deep breathe Re-assess your goals. Then do everything in your power to be successful.
But if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it.
It just comes down to a matter of how bad you want it, how hard you're willing to work for it, and how passionate you are towards reaching your destination.
This all may be redundant and old news to most of you who keep up with my posts, but it's always good to get a swift kick in the pants some days by life to get you back on track.
I've struggled with my own personal issues lately regarding my ambitions and goals, and even had a few setbacks.
But no matter how many times you get bucked off that horse, fall of your skateboard, miss the kick, or whatever cliche you want to use for trying again, you NEVER give up.
All you do is take a deep breathe Re-assess your goals. Then do everything in your power to be successful.
