“The Weight of the World”

Have you ever tried to start something new – something so new that you had to create it out of thin air? Maybe you decided to commit to a new attitude or behavior. Maybe you rededicated yourself to better performance at your current job. Or, maybe you were the driving force behind a new business or other venture. If you have done any of these things, chances are you have seen first hand what a roller coaster setting and achieving goals can be.

During the dreaming stage, ideas and goals flow and things can feel loose and light. However, moving from out-of-the-box, blue sky thinking to on-the-ground action can make things feel heavy – like the weight of the world is squashing the life out of the motivation you have to succeed. Swinging between both of these poles is to be expected as they represent the tension needed to bring our goals to fruition. Unfortunately, many of us shy away from finishing things because we don’t persevere through the intensity of the extremes before settling into a comfortable middle-ground that leads us to inspired, but focused action.

A coaching client who runs a multimedia company wants to establish himself as a preeminent documentarian whose work literally changes the world. This is a lofty goal for sure, but one that inspires him deeply just by saying it out loud. Just as the thought of redefining his career makes him fly, the patience for and commitment to the baby steps required along the way could challenge him and pull him off track. The way he responds to this tension between the opposing forces will make all the difference in the world. But how can we consistently respond to these shifts in ways that will contribute to our success?

One of the best ways to manage the challenges of goal attainment is to simply remind yourself of where you are going. Yogi Berra once said “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.” Whether it is a written affirmation or some other picture of success, these reminders can serve as compass points when you are turned around. Next, we can set the right type of goal for a given situation. Some goals are defined in concrete, specific ways (i.e. I need to read chapter 10 of my biology text book) while others are more abstract or broad (i.e. I want to have a successful career). Most people tend to express things in more abstract terms; as a result they tend to get bogged down and lose their way in the face of adversity. If your goal is defined in a broad manner, determine more concrete goals that could serve as a means for achieving the loftier goal. This can jump start progress and keep things moving in a forward direction.

Finally, we should remember that it takes a tremendous amount of psychological energy to make something real. In the beginning, nobody else will believe something is so until we have relentlessly shown that it is. Waking up everyday and re-establishing yourself can put some wear and tear on your motivation. It is helpful to plan for this by periodically revisiting the passion that inspired the goal in the first place. In the same way that helium lifts a balloon, we have to find ways to use our motivation as a tool to do the heavy lifting of the day-to-day action planning.

Imagine what’s possible if we used the strength of our motivation to lift the weight of the world and achieve our goals.