The Right Mindset to Have When Pursuing a Difficult Goal
You must have the right mindset if you want to pursue a difficult goal as pursuing a difficult goal is not for everyone. By definition, most people will not be successful in their pursuit of a difficult goal. By difficult I’m referring to long-term goals that require a minimum of 4 years effort to achieve.
Four years is a long time to sacrifice. As a result, most people struggle immensely to achieve these types of goals and most people quit before they get to the finish line.
This is why you must have the right mindset before you commit to pursuing a difficult goal. This mindset is one in which you accept the reality that the journey to the finish line will be difficult every step of the way until the very end. This is what I call the obstacle mindset, which contrast with having a problem mindset.
The Obstacle vs. the Problem Mindset
There is a subtle difference between the problem mindset and the obstacle mindset.
On the one hand problems require solutions. On the other hand, obstacles require navigation.
Once you solve a problem, you can use that same answer to solve that same problem over and over. Conversely, the circumstances in which one faces an obstacle are constantly changing. The path through, around, under, or over an obstacle is unique to that moment in time and may or may not be available for reuse.
You have no control over the answer to a problem. There is only one solution, and your only choice is to find it. Conversely, you have nearly infinite choices with obstacles. You can choose everything from neutralizing it to creatively doing something no one has ever done.
Therefore, when you have the mindset of a problem solver this means you put things in a box. But when you have the mindset of one who overcomes obstacles, you see no box.
In short, solving problems is a science while overcoming obstacles is an art.
Pursuing Difficult Goals
Pursuing difficult goals requires an obstacle mindset because there is never one solution to do anything that requires a long-term effort. As time passes, circumstances change. If you think you can follow someone else’s path and get their same result, you will set yourself up for disappointment. Unquestionably, each step, each, day, each month, and each year will require finding your own unique path to overcome the obstacles, not copying the solution to a problem.
The sooner a person in pursuit of a difficult goal accepts this fact, the better off they will be in the long run, and the happier they will be in the short run.