3317: [Part 1] How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve by Steve Pavlina on Personal Growth & Development

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily. How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve, Part 1 by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com and I'm Justin Malik.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome to one of the only podcasts in the world where blogs are narrated to you for free.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: A little bit of positivity every day which adds up after time.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes I read longer posts that I split up into two days. That's the case today. I'll read the first half and then finish the rest tomorrow.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that let's get right to part 1 and start optimizing your life.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve, Part 1 by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: A major obstacle that prevents people from enjoyably achieving their goals is that they set their goals incorrectly to begin with.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: This problem occurs because people don't understand the nature of time well enough.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: When people consider a particular goal they often worry about the time commitment.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Well if I start my own business now it could take years to make it profitable.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so overweight it could take years for me to get in shape.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: If I break off this unfulfilling relationship it could take years to get back on my feet again.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Such thoughts are clearly demotivating but more importantly they reveal a total misunderstanding of the nature of time.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We value our time so we have a natural tendency to be expedient.

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And we also want to enjoy the present moment.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Consequently we're disinclined to set goals that will take a very long time to achieve.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Who wants to toil for years in order to reach a potentially better someday?

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of us simply don't have the discipline to do that even if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Discipline is not the real issue however.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: The issue is a misunderstanding of time.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We tend to think of time as a resource that we spend, just like we spend money.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: To complete a one hour task is to spend an hour on it.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: How are you spending your day?

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Where do you want to spend your next vacation?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: How will you spend the rest of the year?

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Time is money, a disposable resource.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a silly and inaccurate way to think about time however.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Time is not a resource. You cannot spend time.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Time spends itself. You have no choice in the matter.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: No matter what you do, the time is going to pass anyway.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter if you do one thing or another for the next five years.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Those five years will pass no matter what you do.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: In reality, you're never in the past or future.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You exist only in the present moment.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Even when you remember the past or envision the future,

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you're still thinking those thoughts in the present.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: All you really have is right now.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's all you ever will have.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't control the passage of time, but you can control your present moment focus.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's all. No past, no future, just right now.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So if the only thing that exists is the present moment,

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: then what sense does it make to talk about long-term goals?

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you actually achieve anything?

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Well first understand that you can only achieve anything in the present moment

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and you can only enjoy those achievements in the present moment.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't achieve anything or enjoy anything in the past or future

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: because you're never there.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: That's obvious, isn't it?

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But too often people act incongruently with this fact.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very difficult to achieve a goal that's based on an inaccurate model of reality.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Such a goal will surely be an uphill struggle.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The purpose of goal setting isn't to control the future.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be senseless because the future only exists in your imagination.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The only value in goal setting is that it improves the quality of your present moment reality.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Setting goals can give you a greater clarity and focus right now.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever you set a goal, always ask yourself,

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: how does setting this goal improve my present reality?

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: If a goal does not improve your present reality,

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: then the goal is pointless and you may as well dump it.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But if the goal brings greater clarity, focus, and motivation to your life

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: whenever you think about it, it's a keeper.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Many people set goals and then assume the path to reach the goal

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: will require suffering and sacrifice, a recipe for failure.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: A better idea is to set a goal and pay attention to the effect it has on your present reality.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Set goals that yield a positive effect on your life

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: whenever you think about them, long before the final outcome is actually achieved.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Treat goal setting as a way to enhance your present reality,

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: not as a way to control the future.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Suppose you set a goal to start your own business.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine some future point where you're enjoying being your own boss,

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: doing what you love and making a great income.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing wrong with that.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Then you think about how much work it will be,

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the risks you'll face, and other discouraging thoughts.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You've left the present and are dwelling in the future, which is only an illusion.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Bring yourself back to the present and realize that none of those things have happened.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You're just making them up.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: How silly it is to make up things you don't even want,

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and your imagination isn't accurate anyway.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Now try this.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll hear that on tomorrow's episode.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to part 1 of the post titled

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Steve.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Definitely not what I was expecting.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought he might start talking about smart goals

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: when I first read the article,

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's nice to see a different take.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: At first, I was a bit skeptical.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: It was like he was saying,

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_00]: well, if the goal doesn't benefit you right now

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: in this particular moment,

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: it's not worth doing at all.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So my mind went to something like saving money, for example.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I could argue that spending money right now might benefit me,

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: but on the other hand, saving more is something

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: only my future self will thank me for, right?

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: He said, treat goal setting as a way to enhance your present reality

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: not as a way to control the future.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It can feel a bit contradicting,

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but if we go a bit deeper and think about how saving

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: might actually make us feel in the moment,

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe feel hopeful or proud,

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe safer, protected,

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: then I think it still does align with what Steve's saying.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So we have to be careful about how we interpret this

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: because if we think about it too quickly,

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: the meaning might get lost.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: That's a little preview of what we're going to hear tomorrow

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: when we finish up this post,

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'll leave it there for today.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for being here and listening every day,

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be back tomorrow to finish up this post

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: where your optimal life awaits.