This week I am writing a series of blogs on the greatest motivational concepts that I have picked up. During my following of the 365 commitment, I have picked up a variety of new habits. This has taught me quite a bit about human behavior. I finally understand why I failed so much growing up to keep and maintain good habits.
One of the greatest lessons has been about the aspiration of success. When I was younger, I always wanted to vision my ultimate dream. My goal, the top of the mountain so to speak. I would think of how I wanted to be. This is not bad, aspirations are a good thing. The challenge was that I would stay paralyzed. Unable to determine the absolute best path. I would agonize over this and when I finally came up with something, would fail a few days later.
This was a constant battle for me. Over and over again creating the perfect system only to have it fail. Then during my first commitment of keeping and maintaining a habit for 365 days, I had a realization. Success is NOT the end destination. Success is something that you bump into along the path by accident. The important point is that you are on the path, heading in the direction of success. That is the critical piece.
How or in what manner you are on the path matters little. What is vital is that you are actually on the path and you stick to it. When you are starting out, you have this vague notion of what ultimate success looks like. You do not know success. You only see a distant idea or concept of being successful. So how can you set out on the path acting with perfection? You cannot. This is immature foolishness. The only thing you can do is get on the path. Stop planning. Stop pretending. Stop hand wringing. Get on the path. As long as you are heading in the right direction, you will improve your course as you progress.
The path is simple. The path is the direction heading toward your vague notion of success. Your goal. Imagine the goal as a distant mountain that you hope to climb one day. The path is whatever is in front of you now that you think is heading in the right direction. Get on the path. While everyone else is still standing around wondering which way to take, you will be going. You will be down the path, working things out, modifiying the trajectory. While others are still questioning, “the right way,” you will already progressed. Foolish youthful thinkng pretends that you can actually learn the right way. You are not capable of knowing the right way before you start, so do not even try. Get on the path.
If you keep pushing down the path, you will make progress. The ultimate goal will start to become more clear as you get closer. You will start to understand what you need to do. You will have clarity. This is something enjoyed by people closer success to and not the beginner. Then, one day, as you are pushing closer and closer. You are climbing up the slope of the mountain. Success will happen. Almost as if by accident, you will stumble across success. Was this a suprise? No. You were on the path, pushing hard the entire time. Your success was actually inevitable. Success is a matter of time when you are on the path. The challenge is that most of us never get on the path. We stare. We look. We plan. Do we actually start walking down the path? Few indeed.
Meant to give this a 5 star review. It is amazing how the Universe listens when you have forward momentum on your chosen path. It is that first step, makes all the difference.