The 1 Thing You Need to Achieve Any Goal...
The one thing you need to have to achieve any and every goal is a powerful reason why. With a powerful reason ‘Why’ you can do the seemingly impossible. Getting to the root of why you are trying to achieve a specific goal is imperative to your success. Your reason why will help you devise the game plan to achieve this goal. Your reason why must be more attractive than the distractions that will try to break your commitment. Your reason for achieving this goal must be the driving force behind your actions. Your reason why is what you will need to keep your actions consistent.
Have you given much thought to your reason why? Asking yourself these questions will help you discover your reason why:
How will achieving this goal improve my life?
Does this goal align with my values?
It’s said that goals are easier to achieve when they are SMART. SMART is an acronym for Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Timely. I’d agree that your goals should be all these things, but they should also benefit you in a major way. Otherwise, what are you doing it for? When you realize all the ways your life would benefit from achieving this goal, you’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
Thinking back on the goals I’ve set for myself; they’ve always been a means for me to live a more ideal life. My goals were always designed to improve the quality of life for myself or my family. A recent goal I had was to lose weight. Losing weight has always been a reoccurring goal of mine. On more than one occasion I set out to lose weight. Some attempts have been successful and other attempts were failures. In the past, my reason for losing weight was simply to look good in a pair of jeans. But this time it was different, my why was more powerful. This time my why was to avoid living a life on maintenance drugs.
After receiving the results of an annual physical exam, I learned I was dangerously close to being a borderline diabetic. My doctor advised me to change my diet and exercise. That’s exactly what I did. I adopted a new diet and new exercise regimen and successfully lost 40lbs in less than a year. I had reached my goal because I valued my health. I did not want to depend on medication to live. I believed my life would be much better if I did not have to live with the symptoms associated with that disease.
That powerful reason why made it possible for me to do in a couple of months what it has taken me several years to do in the past. While there were challenges on my journey to better health, I must admit, it was easier than it’s ever been for me to lose weight. Achieving the goal to lose weight improved my life immensely. I am healthier, have more energy and a new appreciation for life. Losing weight was easy because it was in complete alignment with my values. I value my health and my family. Losing weight helped me to live an active life and bought me more time to spend with my family.
It's been over a year, and I’ve been able to keep the weight off. Eating healthy and exercising have been come new habits and something I enjoy, and I do regularly. That’s not to say that I don’t have lazy days or cheat meals because I do. However, my health is more important to me than cupcakes and being idle.