Its Not About the Destination, It's About the Journey...

In my previous post I talked about the satisfaction of achieving your goals. Something that is more important than achieving the goal itself, is the journey you take to get there. On your journey you will have to evaluate yourself; Am I working effectively? Is this helping me to progress to where I need to be? By doing this, you're paving the road to your success and believe me, this road is cluttered with all kinds of obstacles that teach you life lessons. That's why the journey, dare I say, is more important than the goal, the goal is just the reward to show for all your efforts.

One thing to keep in mind, is to stick to your goal if you plan to realistically succeed. Write your goal down so it becomes tangible and understand the reason you want to achieve such goal. If you’re straying away from the ultimate goal, go back and remind yourself why you need to achieve that goal. Actively work towards your goal everyday to get it done. Take for example something as simple as leading a healthier lifestyle, one can’t expect to do a 180° turn on their lifestyle, they have to gradually build their way up to it. Start small, 15 minutes of working out, switching out one or two junk foods and replacing them with a healthier option will get them closer to achieving the goal. You will come across procrastination and obstacles, but that is part of the journey. It's important to choose your goals wisely, remember the post on SMART goals? That's exactly what needs to be done. Set your goals wisely! Make sure they're Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. No goal is easy, however, if you don’t make your goal SMART it will only make the goal harder to attain.

Every mission you decide to take on, becomes an opportunity for you to grow as a person. When you start your quest you will inevitably gain experiences that will assist you in completing your goal. Sometimes things don't always go as planned and you have obstacles in your way that may make you lose faith in your goal. Use these obstacles to help develop your skill set, to prepare you for the work that lays ahead. The experiences that YOU go through are priceless, you are the only one who has EVER gone through your specific situation. Everything you have ever gone through in life has shaped the person you are today. All of your past life experiences come with you, they help you progress in life. When it comes down to it, all you will have are your moments, they are intimately yours, no one can take them away from you. Unlike materialistic things, they can break, get lost, get stolen or mess up, however, the experiences you gain throughout your life stay with you and play a huge role in your character’s development.

Hard work does not go unnoticed, if you put in a hard day’s work you will see results. The only way to fail at your goal is to sit there and do nothing! As long as you're moving and grooving, towards your goal that is, you'll be on your way. No goal is easy to attain, it takes dedication and determination to get there. When someone get’s a promotion at work, it’s because they have come a long way and have proven that they the experience under their belt. LEVEL UP!

Set SMART goals, write it down! Start working towards your goal everyday, dedicate some time and you’ll eventually get there. Take everything you come across as a learning experience. Life is a rollercoaster ride and you will get dings along the way that will affect your outcome. All experiences are specific to each person, no one can take away anyone’s experiences away. The level of hard work invested in achieving ANY goal will show in the results. Don’t give up, all the work you do will have been for nothing if you don’t see it through till the end. You will never know what lays ahead so it all begins and ends with you!

When You Point One Finger, There are Always Three Pointing Back!

Play the victim, go ahead, try it. When you point a finger at others, you are too busy concerning yourself with the flaws of others, when you have flaws of your own. You gain nothing from blaming others, you are just trying to shift the blame to someone else. Don’t blame your issues on others, there are so many things that we as individuals can improve on, we should not have time to worry about what is going on with someone else. That constant, “they did this to me,” or “I am like this because..” will not help anyone. No one became rich by crying about how poor they were. There comes a point where you have to stop pitying yourself, and expecting pity from others. No one is perfect, we all make mistakes, but you can choose to be the victim and cry, or you can rise above your issues and make the best of the situation. There have been so many times when I have wanted to give up and be the victim because it felt like everyone and everything was working against me. Playing the victim is not beneficial to anyone, it would not have gotten me anywhere. You could sit in the corner and wait for your knight in shining armor to come and save you, or you can make your own armor and save yourself.

We all love a good “underdog” story, because the underdog makes their own armor. These stories give us hope and faith; that we too can make it, and that the world is not that bad. Those “underdog” stories would never happen if the underdog was focusing too much on what’s wrong in their life. You can either focus on all the things going wrong or you can look to what can be done better to overcome all the negatives in your life. Playing the victim only works for a little while. What are you going to do when everyone can see right through that? It may work the first few times, but eventually people will stop responding to your call, just like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. When that time comes you are going to have to get your isht together and pave your own way. No one else can deal with YOUR problems other than you. When you point one finger at someone, what are the other three saying to you? They are asking YOU, what YOU are going to do about it? You have enough energy to blame another, now what’s your plan to do better?

Be independent, do not let what has happened to you in the past define who you are and dictate your future. All you can do is focus on being the best version of yourself, and overcome the obstacles in your path. Wasting your time focusing on negative energy is pointless, it will not get you anywhere. You have to learn not to fixate on the negative and take responsibility for your own situation. So the next time you find yourself pointing the finger, look at the many things that you could do to transform that situation into a fruitful experience. Don’t blame others for something that you have the ability to fix.

Achieving Goals: Endurance

I am currently going to the gym to get in a triangular shape opposed to the square I am in right now, its a bit cramped, and build a stronger version of myself. I have come across many different issues that keep me from getting where I want to be. If you’re anything like me (or human in general) TEMPTATION is so fucking hard to avoid and overcome. I love food, I love to have a few beers here and there followed by some smokes and I know that those things set me back from performing to my fullest potential. That’s just something I need to keep in mind when working on my mission. There will be bumps along the way, but it is your job to find those bumps and smooth them out. This is key in getting anything that you want; know what’s stopping you, figure out how you can resolve it so it doesn't get in your path to success. Don’t stop, for you are as strong as you can persist. Endurance doesn’t only apply to working out and maintaining physical activity, it can also be applied to different aspects of life such as educational or personal goals.

I find that I often set myself up for failure before I even feel remotely satisfied with my outcome. This happens to everybody; unless you are a well programmed robot that has the ability to fulfill any given task (and if you are a robot please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you). The biggest problem is when people set themselves up for failure by trying to achieve goals that are unattainable. Always make sure that your goals are realistic and have a timeline to help stay on track. You also need to make sure you have accountability for the goals you set, without this, it makes it easier to just give up than to keep “training.” Most importantly, your goals should be set according to you as an individual because at the end of the day, who are you doing this for? Yourself? Your family? Friends? Make your goal worth it so you hold yourself accountable and you are less likely to slack off and stick with your goal.

The best way to set a goal is to follow the SMART goal method, this enables you to follow through with your goals. The cool thing about this is that you can visually process your goal by putting it on paper.

I am going to do an example of one of my personal goals. I am planning a road trip and I would like to make this goal a SMART one. Here is how I would set it up: SPECIFIC: I want to drive up to Alaska this summer in mid August to whale-watch. MEASURABLE: Yes, I have a working car and will save up enough money for the trip, as well as for food. I also have a valid passport. ATTAINABLE: This goal is in my power and ability to achieve. REALISTIC: It’s realistic considering the job I have and the reliability of my car. TIMELY: By mid August I will have saved up enough money and supplies for the trip and will have a week of vacation to enjoy the whales. Bam that is SMART!

Like anything in life, you have to put in work to receive an outcome and depending on how much you push through, you will then see results. There will always be obstacles in the way that will impede you from achieving your ultimate endeavors but don’t give up. Just when you feel that you are done and you want to stop and rest but you know internally that your will power can still endure, keep going. Just keep swimming.

Love you all, Stay strong