The One Question You Must Ask Before You Start Pursuing a Difficult Goal
When you think about your goals, there is one distinguishing point you must clarify. Is your goal just a goal or is it a difficult goal? People reach their goals all the time. However, the same can’t be said for difficult goals.
By difficult goal, I’m generally referring to those goals that require a minimum of 4 years effort to achieve. A great example of a difficult goal every American pursues is a high school diploma. Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States. Getting a high school diploma is the most basic 4-year goal you can have. In fact, it’s an expectation for every single American.
- For most people it’s free
- There is a significant amount of structure and infrastructure
- Generally speaking, all you have to do for success is show up and do what you’re told
Yet, about 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate from high school on time. Now imagine the success rate of those pursuing difficult goals that are significantly more difficult than pursuing a high school diploma. Imagine pursuing a goal that has no boundaries and no requirements to show up. We can use graduating from college as an example. The college dropout rate is about 50% compared to the high school dropout rate of about 6%. That’s a big jump!
If nearly 50% of people drop out of college, what percentage of people would you guess fail at pursuing difficult goals that have less structure? There is no way of knowing for sure, but would you think 80% was too high? How about 90%?
Based on just the people you know (friends, family, social and professional networks), would it surprise you if 99% of them fail at pursuing their difficult goals? Probably not, and this is the point.
By definition, most people will not be successful in their pursuit of a difficult goal. As a result, the chance of you reaching your difficult goals is slim as well. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is just a fact.
However, the difference between those who are successful and those who are not is not random. It’s something within your control.
What Can You Do to Help Increase Your Chance of Success when Pursuing a Difficult Goal?
There are a number of things you can do to increase your chance of success. For example, two of the best things you could do are:
- Adopt the idea of a goal progression to break down your difficult goal into smaller more manageable steps.
- Find a coach, mentor, or experienced advisor to help guide you.
But before you even think about doing those two things, there is a simple question you must ask yourself. If you are about to pursue a goal that is going to take 4 years or more, and there is more than a 50% chance you will fail, you need to have a good reason why. Of course, there could be many “WHYs” that fuel you such as your family, fame, or money to name a few. But, above all there is one “WHY” in particular you must have a good answer for.
Why does pursuing this goal make my life better?
The key to this question is in the details. When you read this question slowly you notice the nuance is that it asks why will “pursuing” this goal make your life better, not why will “achieving” this goal make your life better. If the pursuit of the goal doesn’t make your life better, then you won’t ever get to the point of achievement. In other words, enjoying the journey is a critical part of finishing the journey. Having a “why” for finishing the journey is not enough.
So if you don’t have a good answer to this question, you need to find one before you go any further.