Are You Living a Life Without Goals?
Nick James
Most people go through life without making any significant goals whatsoever. And you can tell the kind of life they're leading. It's a life full of panic and resignation and repentance and unhappiness. And, the thing with that is that it's an ongoing trend.
Imagine the beginning of every month where you have no income to speak of because you first have to pay all the bills, the loans, the credit cards, the subscriptions, the taxes... imagine this being played out every month of your life?
Of course, it's one way to live and the strange thing is that many people have bought into this way of living. This way of being. And it's a way of life that's fixed for many. And it's fixed because of the unwillingness to change -- to create, to make and keep promises.
I can't imagine my life without goals. And I know people get strung up about the word goals so what I'd like to do is to replace it with the word... GOODIES. There. That's a little different, isn't it? And in an unusual way, just by reframing something, by calling it a different name, it can have the most alarming of effects.
So, now imagine a life without goodies, how does that make you feel? I asked this question to a friend and what she said was that it felt like she was being deprived of something... that she couldn't have a particular something and that she now wanted that to come into her life!
Imagine that!
Maybe if I had said something to the effect of how does it feel not to have that goal, it somehow doesn't carry that emotional jolt... it doesn't seem to have that firepower threaded inside it.
And it's really interesting, living a life without goodies. I mean, when it's birthday time or festivals or celebrations goodies are given out... it's just a natural part of the whole process. But what happens when we realise that we're depriving ourselves out of a lifetime of goodies because we don't do what's necessary in order to live a truly great life... what then? Aren't we at fault? Isn't it our responsibility to create the life we've always secretly desired?
Well, that maybe true, to a certain extent.
You see, I know a number of people who really don't want to stretch and grow and develop, they really don't. They're really satisfied with everything in their life and they're satisfied with the tick tock life they're living. And in a way I admire them because they're not pretending. They're not saying one thing and doing another. They're not chasing a goal and have a ready made excuse making factory as to why they didn't reach it. They're plain and simple content with what they've got in life. Goodies or no goodies.
I find the people who are worse off than almost anyone I know are the people who constantly chase one idea or goal or opportunity and before they've given themselves the chance to master anything, they're off again, looking for pastures anew. It's these people who are pretty much living a life without goals (goodies).
And again, it's all evident in how they speak, act, behave. It's in their body language. It's in their energy. It's in their breathing. It's written large across their faces. And the thing about that is as much as the willingness is there, only a BREAK WITH TRADITION will cure these people.
What do I mean by that -- a break with tradition?
Well, tradition means habit, the way things have been done. It's the way things are. So, success comes in the breakage of the destructive habits... these personally destructive traditions.
And how do we break with destructive habits and traditions?
Well, we simply replace the old with a new.
So if a life was lived without the setting and accomplishing of successful goals, what that means is that there have been a number of breakages of promises to the self. And, in a weird and crazy way, it feels good to do that, breaking a promise to the self. Because, if all our lives we're told to conform to this regulation and to follow that rule and to observe that law, then somehow, going against the self brings an inner destructive reward.
But how damaging that all is.
So, a break with that tradition would mean to KEEP promises to the self. And there's no greater internal power than in making and keeping promises to the self. It's where our self esteem and self worth comes from. And that, that is the currency of success -- our own self worth.
So does it pay to break with destructive traditions and habits? Does it pay to live a life full of beautiful goodies and delicious living? Does it pay to create life that's more than just empty promises?
Well, yes, if you want that. Because again, it's all down to choice and it's all down to whether you want that type of life. Personally, I've been on both sides of the track -- a life of wandering, aimlessness and brokedom... and another, full of treasure and richness and quality living. And to tell you the truth, I prefer the latter. I prefer a life continually filled with goodies.
How about you? Are you living a life without goodies!?
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