I'll tell you what I want ...

It’s April as I write this, and most New Year’s resolutions have long since been forgotten. It’s a funny thing, but the reason that most of them have been forgotten is because the resolutions that we make each New Year most often have no resolve behind them. In this post, I just want to talk briefly about three simple steps that just might help you to achieve a few more of your goals in life.

The first thing that I want to say is that you need to have a clear vision of what it is that you want to achieve. A common goal might be something like “I want to lose some weight”. Or, perhaps it might be “I want to give up smoking”, or something more ambitious like “I want to be an astronaut”. Whatever your goal is you need to first spend some time really thinking about it, and ask yourself “How much do I really want this?” You see, if you want to achieve your goal, you are going to have to keep it clearly in focus in your life, so that whatever else is going on, you do not get distracted from reaching your goal. That is so important! You should stop and think about that. If you really, really want to achieve something, it must become a non-negotiable focus in your life that does not get squeezed out by anything.

To get your focus, I have found that it helps to be specific. So, for example, if you have a wishy-washy goal like “I want to lose some weight”, the chances are that you will not achieve the goal that you really want, simply because you have not properly defined it. Losing a couple of pounds means that you have lost some weight, but that is probably not what you really wanted to achieve. Set a clear target, like a target weight that puts you in the ‘healthy’ zone for your height and age, and then make the target to get to that weight and stay at that weight. Be specific about where you want to get to.

The second thing is to count the cost involved in reaching your goal. Someone once said;

“There are no hard and fast rules for getting ahead in life, only hard ones.”

There is a lot of truth in that. If you want to achieve something worthwhile, then it is going to cost you. The thing is, you should be very aware of what it is going to cost you to get where you want to go, before you embark on the journey. If you have not fully committed to pay the full price to get to where you want to go then when it gets tough you will give up. If you have prepared your mind so that you know full well what sacrifices you are going to have to make, then when it comes time to pay the price you will not turn back.

Thirdly, when you have a clearly defined goal to aim for, and you are fully aware of the cost to get there, you must then make a firm resolve to get to your goal. This is not some half-hearted “Well, I’ll try”. This is an unyielding resolve where there is no question that you will not reach your goal. It is a certainty that your goal will be reached because you have set your face to get there. It is an unflinching resolve that breeds the kind of determination and perseverance that can overcome every obstacle.

With this in mind, stop putting off the things that you know you would like to do, but you have never had the resolve to see them through to the end. Whether it is losing weight, giving up smoking, paying off your debts, passing exams, going for that new career, or spending more time with your spouse and kids; YOU CAN DO IT!

Before just summarising those three steps for you, let me just say one more thing that I picked up years ago from an episode of the detective series ‘Frost’. In it he says to someone;

“You should not be worried about aiming too high and missing, you should be worried about aiming too low and hitting.”

What is it that you really, really want to do? Try these steps:-

1. Define a very specific goal to give you a clear target to aim at.
2. Understand what it will cost you to achieve your goal, and commit to pay the price.
3. Make a firm resolve to get to your goal. Determine not to turn back, or give up, but make it a certainty that you will arrive at your destination.