Stay the Course...

Everyone knows how to set goals. But the question is, is setting goals really enough? You see, most people don’t have a problem dreaming. They don’t have a hard time envisioning the future. I would argue that most don’t have a problem with this all. In fact, I don’t think most people even have a problem getting started. Most people can easily get fired up about something for a week or two or even a month.

Think about how many of us have started diet after diet? How many of us have signed up for that gym membership year after year? Yes, you started out well, and yes you get a brownie point for starting, but it is not just enough to get started. You see, what most people struggle with, is maintaining goals over sustained periods of time.

Without a doubt, nothing is going to change in most people lives from going to the gym, December 31st to January 1st. So, this leads me to the conversation I want to have with you today. How do we maintain our objectives? How do we keep going when we lose motivation? How do we sustain this new way of living when the excitement has worn off?

The answer is simply this; we must get started and stay the course. You must do what you have to do, to maintain your objectives. Things are going to be easy. You’re going to want to give up. And, unless you have a damn good reason for it for making that change, it just won’t last. You have to be fully committed to the amount of effort it’s going to take to reach your goals.

If you want to make real change in your life, you have got to understand that you have to be in this thing, for the long-haul. You have got to make the decision that you really, really, want a change in your lifestyle.

So, when you are tempted to stray or, if you do stray, get back on track quickly. Rather than focusing on the big picture, focus on the – the small actions you can take day to day, towards your objective. If losing 50 pounds is your goal, your new objective should be, that I will lose two pounds a week. You can do that, by giving up a few slices of bread, a few giving up a moco-choco-latte or a few sodas. These are all controllable steps and, if you do them, the 50 pounds you’re trying to lose just won’t be a problem.

Look, you either want it or you don’t. Period. So, the question is, how bad do you want it? If you’re going to get derailed at the slightest sign of struggle, you don’t want it bad enough. If you get off-track indefinitely after missing one or two steps towards your goal, you never really wanted it bad enough in the first place.

No matter what life challenges come your way, stay the course. You have to much invested in this thing, to give up now. Stay the course when you are tired of the battle and please understand that the transformation won’t happen overnight. The final step is to simply persist. Keep at it until you consistently get the results you want. It’s going to take some time, it is going to takes some hard work to replace an old habit with some new ones.

Yes, there will always be difficulties. There will be the time we are faced with the challenge of staying the course or giving up.  Sometimes we all get tired, and we all wonder at times if we have it in us to keep on, keeping on. We will sometimes come to a point in life where we begin to wonder, what’s the point? Yes. You may get tired, but you can’t give up, your life depends on it. The universe is depending on you finishing what you started. You must stay the course. – It’s Just A Thought – Paul Steven Smith (Uncle Paul)

Tweetable Moment: “Without a doubt, nothing is going to change in most people lives from going to the gym, December 31st to January 1st.” – It’s Just A Thought – Paul Steven Smith (Uncle Paul)