If you need people to support your goals and ideas, you won’t reach many of them. This doesn’t mean encouragement is bad. Having people who do support you is great. However, needing those people to support you often guarantees failure. The first reason for this is that, unfortunately, people often aren’t supportive. If you rely […]
You Can’t Set Goals to Fix Your Flaws
I used to think with enough hard work and ambition, you could achieve the things you want. I don’t believe that anymore. Instead, I believe you can only achieve goals from pursuits you enjoy. Self-improvement works best when it maximizes who you already are–not trying to erase every flaw you see in yourself. Over 90% […]
Do You Use “Lack of Motivation” as an Excuse?
A common excuse I hear for not setting goals, building mastery or sticking to important habits is the phrase, “I’m just not motivated enough.” I wonder whether these people believe motivation will simply fall from the sky and strike them. As if sitting and doing nothing was the best way to break a cycle of […]
Why Goal-Setting Can Leave You Miserable
There are really only two reasons to set a goal: instrumental reasons and experiential reasons. When you set a goal for instrumental reasons, it is because the object of the goal will improve your happiness, lifestyle or contribute to some larger purpose. For example, if you’re incredibly overweight, changing your lifestyle may add several years […]