CHAPTER 19
Recognise, reflect, reset
What I have learned about goal setting and pursuing your passions is that you will be tested. The simple art of working towards your goal brings out your true character; it unveils the best in you, and the worst in you sometimes. You will be frustrated and delighted. You will pay a price; however, when you pursue something worthwhile, it is always an investment, not a cost. Some goals will be achieved more quickly than you anticipated, while others will take longer than you expected. RECOGNISE YOU WILL BE TESTED. Buddha himself thought … ‘What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.’ What you do now is about working your plan, being tenacious when confronted with challenges and showing grit when those roadblocks are sent to test you. Understand that tenacity wins every race. I believe every challenge that is placed in front of us is sent to test our resolve. The universe has a way of asking the question ‘Are you serious about achieving this goal?’ The road towards your goal will be filled with character-building opportunities that may very well be preparing you for a future challenge. As Albert Einstein said after many failed experiments, ‘Adversity introduces a man Not everything will work out for you straightaway. What if you started a new enterprise and after months of planning, sourcing products, preparing displays and advertising, your business sales for the first day totalled $4.98? Would you be sufficiently focused and motivated to do it all again the next day? The business I’m referring to here is Tiffany & Co. In 1837 Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young opened their first store on Lower Broadway in New York City, and that was indeed their first day’s take. Today Tiffany & Co. has more than 240 stores in 22 different countries and a turnover of $430 000 000. Everything starts off slowly. Success is not only about action; it’s also about tenacity and the will to hold the course you have charted for yourself. The reason why most people give up is that success never comes first; it always follows action and belief. I often say … ‘Everything is perfect!’ In testing times it is sometimes difficult to look for the reason, the message or insight, when you are in the middle of a disaster, but if you look at the set of circumstances then you can find the message, rather than living with the feeling of ‘Why me and why now?’ Every decision you have ever made is perfect for that time, that place and that situation. It may not have been the right decision two hours, two days or even two years later but we don’t live in the future. We plan for it of course, but we live in this day, right now. So don’t let the possibility of being wrong stop you. As one of my favourite authors, Seth Godin, said in one of his blog posts … ‘The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.’ Reflect on what is working and what you have learned. Reflect on your successes, on the rewards and benefits and the remarkable things that have happened to you as you pursued the goal. Maybe they were the real gift, not the goal itself. The Chinese mystic philosopher Lao Tzu once said … ‘Great acts are made up of small deeds.’ As you pursue your goals remember that every goal is a series of small deeds or steps or actions done consistently within the timeframe you have set to achieve that goal. So take time to reset your goals, adjusting them from time to time if needed. A dear friend of mine once shared that she had had such a great year the previous year but that the first six months of this year were slow and unexciting; nothing was in flow. When I asked her what was great about the previous year she told me about all the goals she had achieved — promotion, new relationship, purchasing her first apartment and competing in her first triathlon. She had achieved a lot of the goals she had written down 12 months before in one of my workshops. Then I asked the question, ‘Have you reset your goals for this year?’ The light bulb went on and she began to create a new list of goals. Take five minutes a week out of your schedule to review the progress you are making towards your goals, and refocus and reset your goals where needed. Then take 15 minutes once a month to plan the goals and actions for the following month. Once every 90 days take 30 minutes out to repeat the process, and then take a day out of your life to sit in a park, on your back deck, on the beach or somewhere in nature. This is your time for a personal treat: to think about the year ahead and plan out the goals you want to achieve in your life for the next 12 months.
to himself.’REFLECT ON THE MESSAGES BEING GIVEN TO YOU
RESET YOUR GOALS