Identifying Your First and Second “Why” When Pursuing a Difficult Goal
Yesterday I made the case that when you are solving a problem, it’s better to have a “why” instead of a “what” mindset so you don’t take one step forward and two steps back. Today I will make a similar suggestion in the context of pursuing a difficult goal.
Instead of focusing on the “what” of a goal, it’s far better to focus on the “why”. Moreover, the first “why” you need to identify when pursuing a difficult goal must be about the process of pursuing that goal, not the outcome.
Why does pursuing this goal make my life better?
The key to this “why” is in the details. When you read this question slowly you notice the nuance is that it asks why “pursuing” this goal will make your life better, not why “achieving” this goal will 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. If you don’t have a good answer to this question, you need to find one before you go any further.
Secondly, you need a “why” for after you achieve a goal.
Why is sustaining momentum after I achieve this goal important to me?
Many people can sacrifice temporarily to achieve a goal. However, very few people are capable of sustaining momentum after they achieve their goal. Once most people hit their goal, they celebrate. Nothing wrong with that. Celebrating is an important part of preventing burnout. However, celebrating too long causes you to lose momentum and allows bad habits to slowly replace the good habits you developed while achieving your goal. This is not what success should look like.
To sustain momentum, the first thing to remember is to focus less on the fact that you achieved the goal and more on the process that got you there. By focusing on the process, you can optimize it to make the process sustainable instead of extreme. Extreme processes are doomed to fail eventually.
It’s always better to achieve a goal slower with balance instead of achieving it fast with extreme action. This balance requires patience, rest, recovery, and a focus on the long-term over the short-term. While sacrifice is important, extreme sacrifices in the short-term without rest and recovery is self-sabotaging in the long-term. Knowing your “why” for sustaining momentum will help you maintain balance between short-term sacrifice and long-term patience.