Simple Quote About Life Sums Up How NOT to Pursue a Difficult Goal
For the last few weeks I have been doing a deep dive into the book Flow in Sports. Today as I was reading it I came across a profound quote by the authors. This quote provides the perfect illustration of a common mistake people make when pursuing difficult goals.
It’s not that we fail to stop and smell the roses. Often we even fail to notice they are there.
Pursuing difficult goals is not for the faint of heart. By difficult I’m referring to long term goals that require a minimum of 4 years effort. This is a long time, and as a result most people struggle immensely to achieve these type of goals.
When someone starts on the journey to pursue a difficult goal, there is normally an understanding that the journey is hard. Most people accept that success won’t happen overnight. However, even in knowing this, most people still don’t have the patience they need for success.
So instead of enjoying the journey, they pursue their difficult goal with the mindset of trying to shortcut the process. This means they push themselves to burnout or even worse, they attempt to cheat the process. Either way is a recipe for failure.
The fact of the matter is the best way to pursue a difficult goal is by approaching the journey with a process that gives you the greatest chance for success.
- The process must serve as the goal, and the goal must serve as the compass.
- You must make time for your goals every single day.
- Adopting the idea of a goal progression is the best way to maintain your stamina and not burnout along the way.
- Notice the roses, smell the roses, and celebrate your victories when you achieve the smaller, easier goals on the path to success.