I noticed each year our new resolutions make us so excited and motivate us to do more, to be better, and to achieve something we have never done before. After a few weeks, the ignition of the fire slows down and we don’t make it happen. Every year, I met thousands of people who want to be better and then after a while, unfortunately, I see them fail. It’s very common and repetitive. That’s why this year, I decided to truly figure out what it is, that makes us not continue what we promised to ourselves. What crushes our dreams?
I came to the conclusion that planning is one of the most important things. Plan everything! Schedule your day, visualize your future, design your personal growth.
Put everything into the steps, and then create a timeframe. Without a plan, our goals are just dreams. Let’s make our visions happen! As I was writing this, many excellent examples came to my mind, that show the value of planning. One stick out the most, that someone once told me, but I didn’t put much thought into it till now. Whatever you do, you want to be the best, right? Let’s categorize it to A+. To get A+ you need to plan it, or learn it, or study it or whatever else preparation you need to do. When you do that and execute the best you can you have a high probability of succeeding and getting an A+. Even when you plan, execute and something unexpected happens you still can end up getting a B or C+. Still not bad. But when you decide to not plan, not to prepare, and not execute – you will end up with F. No doubts about it.
Champions don’t become champions by winning the event but by the journey, they’re overcoming
You see the analogy. Simple. It is like school but on a bigger scale.
Execution is the second part, that gets neglected. Sometimes our plans are so big that the steps seem to be overwhelming. That is why it is important to put a timeframe on our goal and break it down into a small step-after-step process.
I noticed that we also have a tendency to put pressure on doing things perfectly. We take extra time to prepare and after a while, we either run of a time or interest. Looking at my own example, I was losing interest in my morning runs. I tried to be perfect and also I didn’t want to fail. I put high expectations of reaching each day 5k in a certain amount of time. At the end of the day, I couldn’t meet that specific time. It was frustrating, but I knew that I can’t give up or stop. I had to readjust, not only my goal but also my mindset. I changed the goal to a 2k run and I dropped the pressure of time. I decided to “just run”, and at that moment the running became a pleasure, and I loved it again. A simple solution leads to a big success.
Being a be perfectionist stops a lot of us (including me) from achieving a goal. I struggle with this a lot because I want everything to be flawless. I put my standards high, and then the process to achieve it takes me forever. Maybe if we just do it, we would learn from the experience and get better at it each time. Well, I guess I need to learn from my own advice and give myself permission to not be perfect but still perform best.
In a conclusion, I see that we forget to plan and then our execution is weak, we want to be perfect but we are afraid to fail, so the journey stops. I think this is the key here. Those few steps will make us successful. No one wants to be unsuccessful, but also no one was born a master in their scope of practice.
Little recap:
- Make a plan
- Execute
- Stop being perfectionist
- Don’t be afraid to fail
- Try again and again
I read some motivation quote at some point in my life and it said that “champions don’t become champions by winning the event but by the journey, they’re overcoming”. It’s true because champions never give up. They just keep going.
My advice to you and also to myself is – let’s go out there and do what we promised to ourselves!
Photo by: Monte Montemayor
