“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
It’s one thing to set goals — but quite another to achieve them!
To stick with your goals over time, it’s essential that you tap into a deep well of motivation. This motivation comes from understanding why you want to pursue certain goals, and what they mean to you.
So in this lesson, you’ll have the opportunity to reflect on your deeper “why” behind each goal. By doing so, you’ll unlock these benefits:
- Keeping the payoff of your goal in sight. Sometimes you might be so caught up in the everyday “doing” of the goal, you forget what success looks like. Over time, this can lead to disillusionment or burnout. Your list of motivations will serve as a reminder of why you are doing what you are doing, and what the payoff is.
- Motivating you even on the days when you feel like giving up. There will be days when you won’t want to get out of bed and run before breakfast, or you won’t want to go on another date in the hopes of meeting the love of your life. On those low-energy days, your list will remind you WHY you committed to the goal in the first place.
- Maintaining your “motivation muscle.” Many of us start off a new project with energy and excitement, only to have it taper off as time passes. Reviewing your motivation will help keep you energized and excited all the way through.
- Preventing you from getting distracted by new goals and shiny objects. You’re a goal-getting, proactive person. You wouldn’t be participating in this program if you weren’t! And one of the drawbacks of being such a positive, proactive person is the ability to be taken in by a new shiny object every couple of weeks. Being connected to your “why” and the reasons behind your goals will keep you from giving up and switching focus halfway.
Your reasons why
Go ahead and open up your worksheet for this lesson. For each goal you picked in the previous lesson, please write down a list of 20 Reasons Why You MUST Achieve Your Goal.
I know, 20 reasons is a lot — but push yourself a bit! Write down everything and anything that comes to mind with regard to your goal.
You can think about:
- How achieving this goal will make you feel
- The impact it will have on your personal life and…
- In your work life
- On your family
- On your confidence and self-worth
- On your health
- In your future opportunities
- And anything else that comes to mind!
Repeat this exercise for each of your 1 – 3 key goals.
For example: if one of your goals was to lose 100 pounds, your reasons might include:
- I want to shop in the normal section of the store and not the plus-size section.
- I want to be around long enough to play with my grandkids.
- I want to go hiking with my husband each week.
- I want to climb the stairs without getting winded.
- I want to eat without sweating.
- I want to stop taking pictures from the neck up only.
Hot Tip: In some cases, you may find you aren’t able to come up with any reasons WHY when thinking about your goal. Or you may find while writing your list that your goal doesn’t really resonate or fire you up after all.
In that case, don’t be afraid to tweak your goal until it “clicks.” Or, feel free to discard it altogether and replace it with a new or rewritten goal that feels more meaningful to you.