The Why behind your goals

Posted in Self Improvement on 30th October 2020

Dreams, hopes, ambition. The things that unite us despite how different we may be. All of us aspire to be the best version of ourselves. To live lives, that hold meaning and value.

However, far too often, we become mere spectators as our lives flash by us. Working long hours at jobs that kill us inside each day. Just so that we have enough money to pay the bills each month. Never thriving, barely surviving. A continuous chain of anxiety, relief and anxiety. Never-ending.

And before you know it, you're on your death bed. Wondering where all the time went. The older I get, the faster time seems to go. When I was a child, ageing was something that happened to everyone else. I was more interested in the morning cartoons. After I turned eighteen, I suddenly began to notice the days going by much quicker.

I felt it was because I was now in college and had more responsibilities. Do well here, get a job, settle down. And so those four years flew by. I tried to do well so I could get a job. And lo and behold, I got a job!

And that's when time started going by even faster. Monday to Friday merged into one and Saturday and Sunday became days to relax and recuperate before heading back on Monday. 

Time flew by. Each day was almost identical. The weeks merged into one. Nothing new. 

At some point, you need to hold your hand up and come forward. It's your life. Your actions have consequences. And the only one who can go about making a change for the better is you.

It's quite liberating when you come to that conclusion. You no longer feel buffeted by the challenges life throws at you. You acknowledge it and back yourself to get over the hurdle. 

When you break free from the victimhood mentality, you allow yourself to truly give it your best shot. It's easy to sit there and blame the things happening around you. It's harder to acknowledge that regardless of what happens around you, your reaction plays a greater role in determining how well you deal with it.

If there's one thing I've learnt over the years, it's the fact that human resilience has no bounds. No matter how hard things may be, the will and spirit to fight back exists in all of us. It is limitless, and it can push us to break boundaries we never thought we could reach.

We can surprise ourselves by what we can achieve when we set our mind to it. All of that, however, begins and ends with one simple question.

Why?

One word, that holds the key to everything. Your reason for doing something boiled down to its essence. The "why" should be your North Star, the anchor, the guiding light.

When things get tough. And they certainly will; your "why" should be strong enough to get you back on track. When you are at your lowest and everything seems lost, your "why" should spark the fire in you to keep going. It is the mission, the goal, the reason that you've set, that you value so much that you're willing to go through anything it takes.

When times are bad, remember your why. Get back up, dust yourself off and keep going. When times are good, remember your why. Remember all that you've done till now to get here and all that you've sacrificed. Remember that nothing is guaranteed in life and that you should enjoy what you have and never take it for granted.

For me, my "why" is to make an honest living trying to help people by writing and creating. That means the world to me and it's what serves as my guiding light.

All great things begin with a goal. And a reason behind that goal to stick to, no matter what may come. The WHY. Be true to yourself and choose honestly and then back yourself to go on and achieve your dreams.

Summary 

Here's what you need to take away from this article.

1. The "Why" is the most important thing you need to decide when you're pursuing a goal.
2. Your reason for why you're doing something should be strong enough to motivate you through the tough times. It should serve as your guiding light.

Action steps

To avoid this becoming just another article you read, feel motivated about for a minute before doing absolutely nothing, here's a list of steps to convert your motivated thoughts into solid action. This is by far the most important part. If you don't do this, it's as good as not having read the article.

Remember, knowing something and not taking action is the same as not knowing. Follow these steps to make sure that reading this article wasn't a complete waste of time.

1. Decide on a goal you want to achieve and more importantly the why behind it.
2. Make sure that you are honest with yourself during this process. The "why" will be the only thing you'll have to hold onto at times when the going gets rough.
3. With that decided, start taking small but concrete steps towards your goal.