Over the years, I have come to see myself as a good planner. I think up ideas, look at the latest trends and how they would fit into my plans and implement them. I am a dreamer. Hence, my ideas are always in mind a lot as I think of how to implement them. Over the years though, many of my plans have failed miserably despite writing them down and having a good start to them. That though, hasn’t deterred me from setting up new goals for myself to pursue. What I had to do was examine why my plans fail despite having good strategies in place?
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
I came to the realization that enduring through challenges has always been an issue for me. I give up when the going gets tough and that can be at 6 months to 2 years into what I am working on. When it’s at an impossible stage and the hurdles are too much, I would rather refocus my energy on a new project than build the discipline that it would require to endure until the next face of the project.
While that has worked well for me, I realized it won’t help me achieve my desired goals in life. Hence, I had to go back to the drawing board and ask myself, what I wanted out of life and how I could build the discipline needed and endurance through to the success of my goals. Reading about how I can achieve that was the ideal way to go about it but I had the challenge of finding time to sit down for an hour or more daily. I chose instead to listen to audio books and podcasts.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Am not sure who I got this point from. I learnt that it was important for me to understand what I wanted in my life and the motivation behind that goal. Why? In the past, my reasons would have been because I can or everyone is pursuing a similar goal; or even it would be motivated by doing it for others but not myself. Being intentional in why I want to do something in my life has helped in avoiding unnecessary pursuits.
I also came to learn that it is important to gain mastery over something. I definitely cannot be a jerk of all trades. My time, energy and skills can only be limited towards a few things. Gaining mastery over something takes longer than I had projected and constant working at it might mean many years and a lot of time invested in it. Even for those who choose the goal to work out or exercise in life. It may be strenuous in the beginning before it becomes a routine. Years later, the duration and type of exercise may change but the goal to regularly keep exercising still remains.
When you have a goal and it’s clear to you, it’s important to build the discipline and endurance and learn to pick yourself up and keep going when obstacles eventually come your way. Be practical and know when to change focus. Sometimes it maybe necessary to pivot and keep going. A flexible approach is better than a rigid one towards building a better pathway in life.
Digital Marketer 