Do you have a long-term goal?
Well, I do. Actually I have several. Some of them may take so long to happen that I can’t help feeling that they will probably never happen. You might feel the same way with your goals.
What can we do to make sure we’ll eventually reach those goals even though it may take years and years?
The answer is simple, but not necessarily easy. One thing we can do, and probably the only thing that will make all the difference, is that we have to really want it. Not just sometimes, but most of the time, consistently want it, and keep wanting it until we get it.
This seems to be the conclusion whenever I look at the goals I accomplished over the years, and also those I failed at.
I started my own business, became financially independent, got a Master’s degree, and quit smoking. I live in a great country (Canada) and enjoy good health and stay in shape. All of these goals took years to achieve. I think I was able to accomplish them mainly because I’ve always wanted to.
Now here are a few big goals I failed to reach: speak English fluently, climb the Mt. Everest, run a Marathon, write a novel, build a billion dollar app. Those are great goals and I seriously worked hard (for a while) to reach them. But as years go by I find that my interests have shifted and I just don’t want them any more. Or at least not as much.
Of course this is perhaps an over-simplified conclusion. There could be hundreds of reasons or factors why we succeed or fail at our goals. However, if you simplify life, whether you truly and consistently want something is oftentimes the only determining factor in having what you want, especially for long term goals.
Think about your own goals, the goals of people you know, and the goals of those successful people. You did it because you wanted it. They did it because they wanted it. For a long time.
So now, if you ever doubt the success of your long-term goal, simply ask yourself each day, “Do I still want it?”
Harry
