How to Pursue Goals that are out of Your League
It is important to have goals, or at the very least an intention of where you want to go. It is vital still to always keep them in focus, reminding ourselves of and reinforcing our true desires. It is how we cultivate burning desire. It is how we stay on track and prevent ourselves from falling asleep at the wheel of life.
However, between where we are and where we want to go, sometimes there is a seemingly unbridgeable chasm. Sometimes we do not have the tools, knowledge or resources necessary. We don’t even know what we don’t know. Sometimes our goals are completely out of our league. But still we must begin the quest.
It can seem quite daunting. Often you don’t even know where to start. Or you do know where you would like to start, but there is a huge obstacle in your way. Maybe you don’t have the funds, or the network. Maybe you are just not good enough to achieve it…yet. It could be any one of a thousand things.
And being in that position hurts. You want what you want so badly, but it seems unreachable. Obsessing over your goal starts doing you more harm than good, even discouraging you. Your troubles loom large, seemingly more than you can bear.
What do you do?
Take the first steps, and then the next steps…
Like driving on a dark road at night, you have to focus on what’s right in front of you. Even though you can’t see the whole path or solution right now, you can at least switch on the headlights of your awareness and deal with what’s right in front of you.
You can start from somewhere.
You might not know how to get where you want to be yet, but there will be something that you can do today that will orient you towards your goal or at least put you one step closer.
It could be as little as doing some research and simply learning. It could be doing something small, like registering a domain, or signing up for a service. You could reach out to people for advice. Whatever you are aiming at, there is a small first step that you can do to begin your journey, and then the next step, and so on.
Commit to doing all you can do
If you are truly serious about chasing this goal, then you gotta go all the way. You have to turn pro. You have to hold the line. You have to understand that this is a dog fight. That it will not be easy. There will be bad days, and there will be worse days. Things will be impossible, but you have to make up your mind that you will not be defeated, and then you have to go out there and do everything humanly possible to make sure that you get where you are going.
You will be forced to be humble. You will have to learn, unlearn and relearn. You will have to get creative. You will have to do painful, annoying, boring things. You will fall and you will have to pick yourself up and brush off the dust and get back to chasing.
But if you can commit to doing all that you can do, then you just might have a shot.
Pay attention to your trajectory
If you kept doing things the way you are doing them today, where will you be in 5 years? What are the most likely long term results of your actions today. Are they moving you towards your goals? Are you working hard and smart? Setting up the right structures? Do you have the right habits installed? Are you making time work for you, or are you wasting it?
Are you moving as fast as you can or moving too slow? Are you working deliberately or in a scatterbrained way chasing every fad?
It is very important that we keep these thoughts close at hand. Making the adjustments daily to ensure that we are truly doing the things that move us in the direction that we want to go in.
Improve by 1% everyday
No matter how far from our leagues our goals are, we can close that gap daily. Even if it’s by the tiniest amount. We have to commit to be a bit better every day. A bit more focused. A bit more conscientious. A bit more disciplined.
As we do that, we build the habit of constant improvement. Making sure that we are moving in the right direction consistently. Over time, the improvements compound, making things easier for us, placing us in new levels of operation, in new rooms, in new scenarios. Bringing ourselves within distance of the things we want.
Build relationships and enlist help
We are very social creatures. And as much as our culture might lean towards the concept of the rugged individual, we can certainly go further if we work together. It is okay to ask for help. it is okay to partner with people. Building relationships and connections will allow us to leverage and do way more than we can do by ourselves.
And as we add value to others and allow them to contribute to our cause, we open doors and pathways far beyond our usual range.
Be open to change
It is tempting to want to skip right to the end. To get the thing we want right now. But shortcuts are usually disastrous. Getting certain things before you are ready or before you have earned them can turn them to a curse more than a blessing. We must grow into it. So be open to the journey, allow it to change you.
Be flexible and ready to evolve into the person you must be to have what you desire. It will mean new habits, new perspectives, new action. It will mean lot of fumbling and failure at first but as you embrace it, you will grow becoming stronger and more resilient and powerful.
And soon enough, the goal that was once out of your league, will be right in your grasp.
Originally published at https://otoabasibassey.com on July 19, 2021.
I am an brand strategist, designer writer and entrepreneur using my skills to help people and businesses live up to their potential.
If there was an overarching theme to what I do, it would be “The art of being + the act of creating + the space in-between“. I am interested in how we live, how we create and how the two interact and inform each other.
My obsession with personal development and constant growth sparked in my early teens remains unabated and now I share what I learn as I build a life by design.
