When you set a goal three basic things end up happening.
You reach your goal.
You fail to reach your goal.
Or you quit somewhere along the way for some reason.
Don't get me wrong. I love goals. I love setting goals and I love achieving goals.
There is a problem though.
What happens when we reach a goal? Do we celebrate? Do we fall back into out old ways? Do we set a new goal?
I don't want to talk badly about goals today. As a matter of fact, this isn't about goals at all. This is not about the destination (the goal) or about the starting line (setting a goal) it's about what happens in the middle.
It's about being better every day.
You see, it doesn't matter what your goal is. What matters is, like I wrote about in the post called "Action" (CLICK HERE TO READ) that you take action towards what you want.
If you can get just a little bit better each day then you can and will achieve anything as long as you give it time.
I once heard a comedian say, "Anywhere is walking distance if you have the time." That's the truth but it's not about getting to that place or that goal that is important.
It's all about the process, It's all about the process of taking tiny small steps forward for a long time.
Part of this is finding ways to be just a little bit better. This will give you the victories along the way that will keep you going.
Real world example.
A lady in our beginner fitness program came back from a 400m run all smiles a while back.
She had just run the entire 400m without stopping. That is both internal motivation for her and external motivation for others. It had little to do with meeting her weight loss goal but it did show something significant.
She was better. The week before she had only run 200m.
I coached a lady a while back with a goal of running a marathon. Her first run was 1 minute 29 seconds.
If the focus was on the goal this may have caused her to quit but she didn't quit. Why? She focussed on being better. The next run was a longer then longer still on the next one.
She got better and better until she was able to run that marathon.
If you keep your focus on getting a just a little bit better all the time you are constantly adding fuel to the fire. Each day you feel good about yourself and those big goals will seem closer and closer until they are in the rear view mirror.
Focussing on the process and getting just a little better each day will help you to succeed long term. If you reach your goal you will yearn for more goals and you will want to keep going.
Quitting along the way won't even be an option. If you get a little better each day for a week you know that day 8 is easy. Even if you miss day 8 and even day 9 you know those 7 days weren't that bad so you will press on.
What about missing your goal? That's ok. If you are getting a little better every day missing your goal doesn't mean anything. It just means that the goal changed the priorities changed. Maybe the goal was never really that important.
At the end of the day what achieve or get really means nothing. It's who you become along the way that really matters.
If you get a little better each day then you have won no matter what. You have become a better human and THAT is all that REALLY matters.
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Thank you. Go out today and get just a little bit better.
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