Is the Goal Really the Point?

In the next couple of weeks, you’re going to hear a lot about goals. What’s your New Year’s Resolution? What are you planning for 2020? Will this year be your year? We all want to get better. We all want to experience the thrill of achievement. With that said, the goals we have for this upcoming year are more than just items on a list.

If you had a magic wand and you could make all of your deepest desires come to fruition, would you wave that wand? Who wouldn’t? But it would be a lot less enjoyable than you might think. 

There are more to your goals than you might realize.

Consider this:

1. If you could have everything you wanted magically appear, would you find that satisfying? If you’re like most people, you have a long list of things you’d like to see, do, and have. Imagine if you could snap your fingers and be wealthy like Ted Leonsis, play the guitar like Zakk Wylde, write books like Nora Roberts, see the Northern Lights, lose 15 pounds, and run a successful company. Imagine that all of that came to fruition in a blink of an eye. Everything that you want and more. Done. Would you feel fulfilled? Accomplished? Proud of yourself? Not sure about you, but that scenario sounds depressing to me. If you’re like me, the process of going after your goals is the essential part. We actually can become different people (for the better) as we work toward our goals. Things don’t mean too much if you don’t have to work for them. 
2. Check how you feel. How do you feel the day after achieving a big goal? For me, accomplishing a big goal gives me a tremendous amount of energy and validates everything I did up to that point was worth it. But soon after the goal is accomplished, the “high” fades. Weeks after the achievement, I might forget that I even did it. How about yourself? Think about all the goals you achieved in 2019. Maybe you earned your doctorate, you landed a huge client, or you saved like crazy to take your family on a much-needed vacation. Whatever it was, you probably felt amazing accomplishing your goal. Then you moved on. Soon after we achieve something, we feel indifferent to it. If you’re like me, you have to track your successes over the year, or you will completely forget months later. I have to go through my journal to see all the stuff I did throughout the year. Even goals that I busted my butt working toward end up forgotten.  
3. Struggling leads to learning. If someone just randomly gave you a house, you would lose the opportunity to: work hard to earn, save, and invest your money. When you grind it out and face challenges, you end up forcing growth. Whether you're learning from a mentor, a book, or a program, you’re learning how to be a better version of yourself. I remember when I was 260lbs. Today I’m 160lbs. For years, I struggled with my weight. Thank God that I didn’t lose the weight in an instant. Was it challenging to drop 100 pounds? Yes, it was extremely challenging, but I became a different person in the process. Today, I monitor all of my food intake (through an app called LoseIt), pay attention to my steps (through a FitBit), and I undestand a lot more about health, exercise, and vitamins.  

We get far more from the journey than the result.

Going after our goals is a way to learn, grow, adapt, and become a better version of ourselves. Having a vision that comes to fruition provides us a sense of accomplishment that can not be replicated if things are just given to us. Having something easily handed to us might be temporarily fun, but it has less meaning in the long run. Stop wishing that it was easier and start getting stronger. Achievement is fantastic, but crossing a goal off your list isn’t the point.