They Are Not Your Goals

Here is one of the great perplexities of life: You say, "I have goals. I know what I want. I write them down. Yet, I can't seem to motivate myself to do what I know is necessary to make them happen."

Sound familiar? If this is a refrain you have heard often inside your head, you are not alone. There is a very simple reason for this.

The goals you have are not yours. At first blush this may sound preposterous. "Of course they are my goals," you may say. "I think I know what I want." Here is how I know they are not yours: You have no emotional connection to them and so the drive to do what is necessary is missing.

The next question that comes to mind is, "If these are not my goals, then whose goals are they?" That's easy. They belong to the world. They were given to you. These goals that we hold onto and remain uninspired to attain are the goals the world has told you you should want. Society says, "If you drive this car, we will hold you here. If you own this home, we will hold you here. If you earn this much money, we will hold you here. If you have this job, we will hold you here." And on and on.

Connecting to your life's passion is the critical element in making all of life's pursuits possible. It takes courage. It takes hard work. It takes going inside and stripping away all those things the world has told you to want and connecting on an emotional level to what you want. For you. Just you and not for what the world will think of you.

The cigar-chomping General Russell Honoré, who took charge during the disaster in New Orleans, summed this process up in just a few words. He said, "There are only two important days in life. The day we are born and the day we figure out why."

Do this then: Figure out why. If you are lacking the ambition or drive to make your goals come to life, know this: They are not your goals.

Go get your own goals. You will know when you find them. You will feel it.

Have an excellent day.