Everyone wants to achieve big hairy audacious goals, everybody wants a quick transformation of their lives but what they fail to realise is that every action or lack of action, every input and every choice you make is already transforming you. You are already being transformed by what you are doing every day. What we are doing is what we are becoming. This is why focusing on some far-away goal is not half as important as focusing on the necessary input and actions that need to be done right now. Your action today is what you are becoming, your choices right now are shaping your future self. You cannot choose your future transformed self, but you can choose your daily action and the action you choose right now is shaping and transforming you into that future version of yourself, either good or bad.
Therefore, if you want to achieve your most outrageous goal, don’t focus on the goal, focus on the action or input needed to achieve that goal. If you want to make a million, for example, don’t focus on the money, focus on doing the actions and input that will bring about the million. If you want to buy a beautiful house by the lake with spectacular views; don’t focus on the house, focus on the input: the savings or investments that will help you accumulate the funds to buy the house. Focus on inputs and actions that make goals happen, not on goals themselves. You will not achieve your goal just because you have one, winners and losers all have goals, it is the input that makes the difference. ‘So what is the purpose of goal-setting?’ I hear you ask. I’m glad you asked. The purpose of a goal is to show you a possibility; to show you what your life could look like if you put in the work. It shows you what you’re working towards. A goal gives you a general direction, it gives you an end point and possibly a boost of motivation. However, having goals alone without action will get you nowhere! Goals without action is delusion. To make goals happen, you’ve got to put in the work; concrete well-defined input. Not nebulous activities under the guise or label of being busy. These actions and input need to be distilled into a process or operating procedure that is a system. The actions must be scheduled daily so it becomes a habit you carry out consistently daily even when you don’t see any results.
Consistency builds discipline and patience: two success traits that make you unstoppable. At this point, the goals don’t really matter anymore because your habit has transformed you into a higher, better and superior version of yourself who is able to achieve your goal. If your goal was to make a million, you have now become a person who can make a million, manage it and multiply it. Another fellow who simply wins a million in the lottery has also achieved this goal, but the difference between the two people is that the lottery winner has not put in the required work, and therefore has not developed the skill set, mindset and disciplines of a millionaire and so will lose all the money in a few years (research into lottery winners show that most winners file for bankruptcy within about 5 years). Any goal you wish to achieve is only a point on the timeline or spectrum of continuous repetition and improvement. If you do the action and put in the work you will reach the point and surpass it. You don’t know how many repetitions will be required to get there, but you know that if you don’t give up, you’ll arrive there because what you do repeatedly is what you’re becoming.
The way to become someone (e.g. a Millionaire), is by doing something. Every time you practise a habit, you are becoming someone. Habits are the pathway to achieving goals. A single action will not change your life, but every action you take is a vote for the kind of person you want to become – how are you voting and how will you vote today?
Author: Yomi is a wordsmith, passionate about books, reading, education, healing and health. She has appeared several times on television and radio; speaking about her passion. She has Master’s degree in Medical Immunology from the College of Medicine, University of London and worked at a postgraduate college of medicine in London for over a decade before pursuing her passion for writing. She is the author of four books.
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