The End Goal Is Not The Point.
Picture your life goals as a checkpoint, rather than a finish line.
The greatest and most powerful realization that we can have are those that seem crystal clear once identified. Personally, I’ve realized that most of my approaches to things in life have been wrong, or have felt incorrect.
For context, I used to be very fixated with a certain goal; that when I came to accomplish it, I didn’t know what to do next. I had some solid goals, I knew what I wanted, but my approach was all wrong. I just wanted the achievement and that feeling of attainment of what I desired, but I wasn’t focused on the journey.
I was missing the realization that for all the things in life, there’s barely an end-point. But it’s all about the experience, and the journey.
“Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.“ — Nikita Koloff
Many quotes as such have certainly helped me realize that happiness, love, growth, fitness, and wealth each have their own importance, but you should always be sure of the process that it requires you.
Personally, I’ve seen that for any objective that we have in life, we’re usually motivated by the end goal, or envision of what we assume it to be later on.
We all desire strong relationships, but don’t take into account the hardships that it’ll take you through. We all desire a secure future with lots of assets, but don’t realize the restless years of dedication. Point is, this vision feels like it's engraved in our heads, well at least for myself.
Every goal requires dedication and commitment, but you don’t just get there, and then stop.
What does accomplishing a goal mean to you? For myself, I can certainly say that a goal means mastering a certain skill or reaching a desired state.
When we set goals in terms of health and fitness, we vision a perfect body, extreme muscles, or even the proper strength or flexibility. With regard to achieve wealth or become financially stable, you’d often imagine a big home, fancy cars, and even a firm business or job.
With goals as such, I’ve noticed 2 things:
- The deeper we invest our time into a goal, the more we realize that it’s intense than we’d expected it to be.
- We do not take into account the minor accomplishments and stages throughout. Not everything will be positive all the time. Believe it or not, but failures also do matter, and we should take into account that they happened; as they are a learning part of the process.
It’s not our fault though. We’ve grown in this mindset and have never tried to change because it feels like we’re always doing something wrong.
Use Goals as a Compass
I see life as literally a big treasure hunt, with unknown areas to explore (where your hopes and goals and dreams live), various treasures to find (goals to overcome), and buried treasure acting like your goals; pieces that are hidden out on the map, somewhere that you optimize to get to soon.
You know some areas are difficult to overcome than others, and some areas are yet to be explored, but there has to be something that you want (ex. goals) there.
Visualization is definitely essential to keeping ourselves motivated towards an achievement.
The fastest way to find the treasure is to start walking. You’ll soon realize that your goal isn’t a destination, but more of a direction of where you want to guide your future. In other words, your goal becomes your compass, not a treasure.
Achieving goals can sometimes even take a full lifetime — and that's okay!
Pour all of your energy into the journey, be present in the moment, and be committed to the path you are taking.
Know that you are moving steadily in one clear direction and that this direction is right for you, but never get wrapped up by a particular result or achieving a certain goal by a specific time.
Living in the Now
If you get caught in the past or the future, you become a victim of time, rather than becoming present.
If you allow yourself to be a victim of time, you’ll carry a sense of unease with you. You will be defenseless to stress, agitation and just feel uncomfortable.
Past: What has been…What could have been… What you thought happened vs. What actually did happen…
Future: What will be…What could be…What might be, if…
Of course, it’s completely normal to spend moments of thought in the past or in dreams of the future. But know that identifying pending dangers through associations with things that have happened in the past is also important for self-preservation.
But when our lives become completely dictated by thoughts and emotions attached to past events and potential future outcomes, standing peacefully embedded in the present becomes increasingly rare.
“Stop Acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guarenteed” — Wayne Dyer
So wherever you are or whatever your goals are, commit to them and to being there, fully. Life will take care of the rest.
There Is No End
Choose your goals, and forget about them. Yes, forget about them. Trust that the direction that they’ll take you is perfect for you. If they’re right, they will provide proper direction in your life and allow you an exciting journey.
We all have our own map, you get to choose your destination.
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