Put A Name On Your Goal
It’s too easy to create a dream or want.
I’d often have probationers come into the office ready for change, or excited with the idea of change. This usually took place right after release from jail or prison. They would be amped up with an idea, or desire, to do it right this time. Full of ideas and dreams of how things were going to be different. But one of my first questions was, “What do you want? Really, what is it you want? Is it money? Then how much - what’s enough? Is it power? Then what type and how much? In what industry or position? Is it a job? Then what kind, where at?” Usually, they never bothered to get beyond that high level dream state and by failing to do that, they always ended up failing to even make it past the door of the interview room with a true commitment to the dream.
It’s too easy to create a dream or want. That’s one of the easiest things you can do. But, if you never define it, really define what that dream is, put some sort of reality to it, you will never start moving towards it. It’s not just large goals or desires that fall into this trap, simpler, easy seeming goals can fall apart without clear definition. You want to lose weight - what does that look like? How much? What type? Is it weight or do you want to be in shape? What does that look like? As you can see, without defining what you want, you really can’t begin to achieve it. This is like saying you’re going on vacation but you never put together where exactly you are going. All you end up doing is sitting at home feeling sorry that you never left.
Don’t just sit at home. Take the time to figure out where it is you want to go and then how to get there. You can’t even plan if you don’t have a basic idea of where you want to go. You cannot under think this step. You must define what it is you want. What that thing looks like. You can always adjust once you get going, but you’ll never be able to move forward beyond the dream phase without a clear goal. And the better defined that goal is, the easier it will be to actually get out of the room and move towards your goal.