For the past 4 years I’ve been driven by a quote from Will Smith, “Being realistic is the most traveled road to mediocrity.” I read that quote, instantly wrote it down as a reminder and started seeking failure, setting goals for myself that others may view as a bit far fetched.
Growing up I rarely set goals for myself, let alone did any smart goal setting. The reason, fear. I was fearful of not achieving the things I sought out to do. What if I committed to a task and didn’t achieve it? Even worse, what if I told my friends and family about something I wanted to achieve and fell short? I wasn’t strong enough to deal with failure, and I lived the early part of my life scared of failing tasks I thought of completing or falling short of other people’s ideals.
My self-worth was somewhat tied to my personal scoreboard, my wins and loses. I wasn’t pursuing my dreams because there was a high risk associated with them. The question, “what if I fail?” always echoing in my mind. It was easier to measure the tangible aspects of my life instead of thinking in terms of personal growth or simply how fulfilled I felt.
Seeking Failure
Now I try to out seek failure. Failure has motivated me to achieve and learn more than I could’ve ever imagined, and it will continue to teach me lessons throughout the rest of my life. Hear me out, I’m not talking about purposely failing for the fun of it. It’s a shifting of mindsets. Instead of living in fear, I’m now rooted in faith. Now the question, “what if I fail?” takes on different meaning. The win is accomplished simply by pursuing my goals and dreams and not how it is measured from the outside world. I’m stretching my limits, trying to grow as a person mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually–trying to be the best version of myself I can be in each individual moment. If I make myself uncomfortable, stretch my mind and body and fall short I can chalk one up to personal growth. With this new mindset I learn lessons from my failures, I learn to take risks in life, and I learn how to overcome adversity.
This continued personal stretching has a lot to do with learning how to goal set with purpose and action. Over time I came to understand that physically writing goals down made a huge difference especially if I filled them with intent and applied specific aspects.
How do you set goals?
- Your goal needs to be as specific as possible with some sort of measurement applied.
- Goals need to have a time limit applied to it. This gives you a deadline and holds you accountable to work towards achievement.
- Your goal needs to be… YOUR goal. This is extremely important! You thought of this task or idea you want to achieve, not your friend, not your family, not your gym partner, not your personal trainer, not your significant other… YOU! You have to take ownership of the things you are trying to accomplish. This increases your motivation and awareness, as well as makes the achievement much more gratifying when completed.
- It needs to be made with intent and purpose. Why are you making this goal? What is the reason behind it? Are you trying to lose weight to live a healthier and longer life, to be able to spend enjoyable time with your family? Are working hard to build a business or get that promotion to further support your growing family? Are you trying to serve others to give less fortunate people a better opportunity to succeed? Your goal has to have a purpose behind it because I can promise you that there will be a time when things get tough. Your purpose, your why, if strong enough will motivate you to keep moving forward each and every day.
- Your goal needs to be written down. There is something magically when pen hits paper. When you write out your goals it is essentially you making a contract with yourself. Write your goal, write the purpose behind it, and use it as a reminder to motivate you each day.
Enormous growth can occur by stretching your personal limits and setting goals that to some may seem unimaginable. You know you have set a great goal if it’s a little scary and if others think you’re a little crazy. I am encouraging everybody to take purposeful action toward the unimaginable.
“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.” – Will Smith