“Without involvement there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement no commitment.” Stephen Covey
Many of us have already set New Year’s resolutions. Most of us would agree that we will most likely not achieve them. That is the problem. If you think you can’t achieve a goal then you are probably correct. In order to attain anything, we need to believe we can do it. Surprisingly, most things we set our mind to do, we are capable of doing. Believing we can is the factor. Often the goals are too difficult or unrealistic to achieve immediately or without setbacks along the way. As a result, we release our goals and efforts as soon as we cave. This is a mistake. Nothing great is accomplished the first time trying. Think about the baby steps. Every time we succeeded a bit more than the day before.
Giving up on anything seals our fate regarding that issue. With a bit more effort maybe our marriage will succeed. Trying harder may help us to have more patience or tolerance. Another attempt at reconciliation with a friend or family member just might be the cure. Refraining from judgement when we slip back on our trials with an addiction, allows us the will and ambition to try again with more vigor. I equate abandoning our goals with coping out. We set our goals, break them and then leave them behind as pointless.
This is so sad. We can achieve them with time, patience, effort and above all else forgiveness. When an athlete is attempting to improve his skill or speed he chops away at this problem day after day. There might be times when he observes a backward result but he never loses his or her focus. With each and every trial, what seemed an impossible task, is accomplished and progress is made. It is true that maybe we fall a little short of one hundred percent of our goal but how much further did we take ourselves from the starting point. There is always room for growth. Believing in ourselves will keep us trying for the 100% goal.
There will always be people who will discourage us from our goals. Maybe that’s because it places them in the position of facing their own lack of effort. You disturb their peacefulness of stagnation. Every effort great or small needs to begin with our determination to make a difference and make a change in a situation. We are never disappointed because we will never end up in the same place we were before the effort. Take the risk, set the bar as lofty as you choose and begin your journey towards your goals.
You are looking for small changes that will eventually evolve into a major change. In all of our accomplishments. We will be proud of our efforts instead of disappointed with our failures. So concentrate on the goal, the efforts, and the small changes. Forget about the time, failures and setbacks. Three steps forward and two steps back still leaves you with one step ahead. You without a doubt can do it. The most difficult challenging and stressful piece of all of this is the start.
“The strongest warriors are these two…time and patience.” Leo Tolstoy
“Many of life’s failures are people who do not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison
