By Kathy Gates, Professional Life Coach
When it comes to goal setting, and actually more
importantly, goal achieving, there are numerous
things involved. Like knowledge of how-to, and
having the right tools, and the support of others.
But there's probably no more important ingredient in
Goal Achieving than willingness.
Success, change, goal-setting -- they absolutely
cannot be achieved without the willingness to do what
it takes to make it happen.
As one author noted, "God provides ample food for
the birds -- but he does not throw it into their nests!"
God has provided ample "food" (rewards) for you
too. But you have to be willing to go out and put in
the effort that it will require to get it. He's not going
to send it to your door in a FedEx package.
Results only come from the effort of going out and
getting what you want in your life.
Effort is a very individual thing. Think of the
Olympic athletes. To reach that level of
competition, they had to spend hours and hours of
unwavering dedication to a specific sport. Now
maybe you're not willing to go that far - or maybe
you are - but it's your decision.
The key is that it has to be a conscious decision.
You must be able to say: I am willing to (keep
trying, working, asking, experimenting, learning)
until I achieve (fill in the blank).
Or you might say: I am not willing to (whatever).
I can easily say that I personally am *not willing*
to spend 8 hours a day bundled up in layers of
clothing to ski down a snow covered mountain. No
way. Uh-uh. Not going to happen.
On the other hand, I will spend hours at my
computer learning a new skill, or organizing my
home (I love to organize, so sue me!). It's what I
love. It's what's important to me. That's a skill that
I can pass along to others to help make their
businesses and daily lives easier.
Again, the key here is what you are willing to do
with your effort. You have a limited supply given to
you each day. What are you willing to do with it?
Where is your effort-your energy, your resources --
directed each day? Where is your willingness to
invest your effort each day?
Do you spend hours worrying about things over
which you have no control?
Do you spend your day at a job you hate, yet not
make any moves toward changing?
Do you wish for better relationships, but spend no
time working on them?
Do you lament your weight and health, but make
unhealthy eating choices over and over again?
My point is that effort must be in the right direction!
Thinking about it, and wishing it would happen to
you, and hoping that someday your ship will come in
are all mental wastes of effort.
Doing the same thing over and over and over and
hoping that you'll get a different result if you just do
the same thing one more time is a waste of effort.
You cannot - never will - get a chocolate cake if
you use a lemon cake recipe -- no matter how many
times you bake that cake! You will never get roses
as long as you plant tomatoes in your garden. Won't
happen. Uh-uh. No way.
If you focus your energy on the wrong things, in the
wrong direction, you're going to get a result you
don't want. Every time. Guaranteed.
Take a close look at your effort. Is it being spent on
what's really important to you? Is it being spent on
what you want to grow in your life?
We often live "on the fringes" of things. Take just
one small thing in your life and totally commit to it
- like doing the dishes immediately after dinner, or
keeping up with your home files, or not snacking after
dinner. Commit to it completely for one full month,
and see how your effort pays off.
Related Articles:
The Second Step To Overcoming The Barrier To Success
You've got to believe that what you're wanting to do is worth
doing and that it will accomplish what you want!
How to Talk to Yourself When You Want to be Motivated to Create the Life of Your Dreams
When it comes to motivating yourself to be a better person, to do
better at work or to create a happier family life you need to
understand the importance of taking control of your self talk.
2 Beliefs Essential For Success
Want to unlock your potential?
Want to move forward to success?
Well neither of these will happen in a
month of Sundays without
belief.
