You can't reach your objective if you don't know where it is.
By January 12th, more than 80% of the population have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions.
Hopefully, you are among the 20% still battling it out, committed to achieving your goals.
Here’s how you can wildly increase your odds of mission accomplishment.
In last week’s post about the CARVER Matrix, we defined Criticality as how we view ourselves in relation to what we want.
You have probably seen the Simon Sinek TED Talk, Start With Why.’
Because Simon has already coined the phrase, and because this newsletter is called Walking Point, implying movement, I prefer to ‘Start With Where.’
Where we want to end up and who we want to be when we get there.
If we view ourselves through the lens of someone who routinely does the things we need to do to achieve our goals, we have a much easier time doing them.
As James Clear says in Atomic Habits, putting in a couple of miles a week becomes easier if you think of yourself as a runner.
If you view yourself as a nonsmoker, it’s easier to pass up a cigarette.
It is also easier to identify yourself as a runner or a nonsmoker if you are moving to a place where you are.
Once you have identified the target you are heading to on the map, It’s easier to commit the time, effort, energy, and resources necessary to get there.
When you know where you are going, you can more easily identify where you are, how far you have to go, and follow your progress- no matter how slight.
The deeper your reason for wanting to accomplish your mission and the more closely aligned it is with your identity, the easier it will be to continue even when you don’t feel like it.
It will be easier to get up and get after it when you’re not feeling your best and to continue even when you are not seeing results.
A great example of this can be found in a Christmas commercial from a few years ago.
In it, an old man starts working out. His neighbors scoff at him, and his family worries about him, but he knows where he is going. He has a mission, and because he is focused on moving towards his objective, he isn't impacted by others' opinions, the weather, or any other obstacles in his way.
Knowing where you are going and why makes any journey bearable.
The only two problems I have with the commercial are:
I have no idea what it’s a commercial for.
And every time I watch it, someone in the next room insists on cutting onions.
It’s ok if your eyes get sweaty.
Until next week,
Keep Walking Point!
John
