When you are thinking about something you’d like to be, to do, or to have, the most important thing to consider is where you’re coming from.
What do I mean by this? I’m talking about your mindset, that’s what. What do you believe about your goal?
I’d like to take you through a very short exercise – and one of the most important things you can do to achieve your goals.
Take out a pen and a piece of paper. Right now. Write down one thing you want to accomplish right now. Do you have it written down? Good.
Now ask yourself: why is this important to me? Write down your answer.
Ask yourself: why else is this important to me? Write down your next answer.
Ask yourself: why else is this important to me? Write down your third answer.
Now ask yourself: what might I be avoiding by having this as my goal? Write down your answer to that.
Ask yourself: is there anything else I’m trying to avoid by having this? Write down anything and everything that you may be avoiding by achieving your goal.
Now look at your answers, and rate them on a scale of 1 to 100: how much is this goal towards something I want? And how much of this goal is focused on something I want to avoid?
For example, if the goal you originally wrote down was “more money,” why is having more money important to you? What would you accomplish with the extra money? If your answers were that more money is important to you because you could buy that new car you want, then ask yourself: “why is it important to me to have that new car?” If your answer is “because Maseratis are the most beautiful cars ever and I can’t wait to feel the thrill of driving that sleek car with the purring motor,” then you have a “positive” goal that you are working towards. If your answer is “because my car is falling apart and I want to avoid breaking down on the highway,” then you have a goal that you are working away from. Let’s say that you’ve got a 40% leaning towards having the world’s most beautiful car, but a 60% leaning towards avoiding breaking down on the highway. If that’s the case, then you know why you don’t have your new Maserati yet – because the majority of your focus is stuck on what you want to avoid – and so that’s what you reflect back to you in your outer reality instead of your goal of “more money” to buy the car with.
You can always determine what your mindset focus is on by finding out why what you want is important to you and examining whether you’re moving towards something you want, or away from something you’d like to avoid. Once you can spot where you’re focusing on the “negative” more than the “positive,” simply change your focus to instead moving towards your goals by focusing on all the great things about having what you want.
Practice this daily. Every time you have a desire which has not yet been fulfilled, pull out your pen and paper, and do this exercise. It’s extremely revealing and will help you get your mindset into alignment with what you want to be, do, and have in life.
