3381: What is My Outcome by Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists on Inspiration & Motivational

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily. What is My Outcome by Joshua Fields Millburn of TheMinimalists.com

[00:00:07] And I'm your narrator Justin Malik reading you blogs every single day of the year including holidays.

[00:00:12] And we're going to get right to today's post as we optimize your life. What is My Outcome by Joshua Fields Millburn of TheMinimalists.com

[00:00:26] It's not ambition that sets a man apart. It's the distance he's prepared to go.

[00:00:32] I've accomplished a lot in my 31 years on this earth and not because I've had the most ambitious ambitions in the world.

[00:00:39] And certainly not because I'm smarter or more skilled or better acclimated than the next guy.

[00:00:45] But because I'm willing to keep going, to keep taking action, to keep moving forward when many other men would give up, give in or give out.

[00:00:55] When I'm tired and uninspired, that's when I know I must shake the dust, right myself, and advance.

[00:01:03] This type of laudable work ethic doesn't come naturally, which isn't for me at least.

[00:01:08] Rather, it's a formula and it works 100% of the time it's applied.

[00:01:14] These days I avoid goals in favor of directions.

[00:01:18] But that doesn't mean I don't have a recipe for moving forward.

[00:01:21] The way I see it, you must be willing to ask yourself four questions if you want to accomplish anything.

[00:01:27] If you do this enough, as I have, it becomes habitual and you begin to do it with everything.

[00:01:33] Literally everything from conversations with coworkers to massive long-term goals.

[00:01:40] Question one, what is my outcome?

[00:01:43] This should be an obvious first question in any endeavor.

[00:01:46] So obvious we usually forget to ask it.

[00:01:49] We skip ahead to questions three and four and we end up wondering why we're spinning our wheels.

[00:01:54] Another way to ask this question is to ask yourself, what do I want to happen?

[00:02:00] Do I want to lose weight?

[00:02:01] Do I want to stop fighting with my significant other?

[00:02:05] Do I want to make a billion dollars?

[00:02:07] Before you can move forward, you must have a vision of what you want.

[00:02:11] Without a vision, people perish.

[00:02:14] Question two, why do I want this outcome?

[00:02:18] This is the most important of the four questions.

[00:02:21] So important, you won't find satisfaction unless you can adequately answer this question with a high level of detail.

[00:02:28] Another way to ask it is to ask yourself, what is the purpose of my outcome?

[00:02:33] This question is the why behind the what, the purpose behind the outcome.

[00:02:39] Your purpose gives you the leverage you need to keep going, especially when you reach a roadblock.

[00:02:46] Without this leverage, it's easy to get excited about a new idea, but quickly fall flat on your face because you no longer know why you wanted your outcome in the first place, i.e. you'll lose interest.

[00:02:58] You might have that initial ambition, but you must also find enough leverage to take you the distance.

[00:03:05] Sometimes we want a specific outcome, not knowing why we desire that outcome.

[00:03:11] Perhaps you want to make a billion dollars.

[00:03:14] Okay, fine, but why do you want to make a billion dollars?

[00:03:18] So I can feel secure, you might say.

[00:03:21] Okay, but can't you feel secure without earning a billion dollars?

[00:03:27] Of course you can.

[00:03:28] So your real outcome in this case isn't to earn a bunch of money.

[00:03:32] Your outcome is to feel secure.

[00:03:35] There's nothing wrong with earning money, but you needn't rake in an exorbitant, arbitrary sum to make you feel secure.

[00:03:42] To put it simply, you must be willing to change your outcome so you have a good enough reason to see it through.

[00:03:49] Question three, what actions must I take?

[00:03:53] Once you know your outcome and why you want your outcome, you must take action.

[00:03:58] At first, it is important to take massive action to give you the initial momentum you need to move forward.

[00:04:05] Then, you must be willing to take ongoing, consistent actions until you reach your desired outcome.

[00:04:11] There's no avoiding this step.

[00:04:13] We all must take action.

[00:04:15] Another way to frame this question is to ask yourself,

[00:04:18] what is my strategy?

[00:04:20] Remember, strategy is just a fancy way to say recipe.

[00:04:24] Once you have a recipe, you can use it time and time again to get the same result.

[00:04:30] And question four, is this working?

[00:04:34] Now you know what you want, why you want it, and you have a strategy to get there.

[00:04:39] Great, you're ahead of 90% of the population.

[00:04:42] This final question is crucial though.

[00:04:44] If you take massive action and are fortunate enough to achieve your outcome right away, then the answer is simple.

[00:04:51] Yes, my strategy is working.

[00:04:54] If you don't reach your desired outcome, then you must be willing to change your strategy.

[00:04:58] As long as you have a strong enough purpose, you'll be willing to change your approach until you get your desired outcome,

[00:05:05] even if it means testing a thousand different routes before you reach your destination.

[00:05:10] If you're not getting what you want, change is a must.

[00:05:15] After all, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

[00:05:21] When I was a kid, my mother used to say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

[00:05:28] Unfortunately, as adults, we tend to do the opposite.

[00:05:32] We get discouraged or embarrassed or ashamed when our recipe doesn't work.

[00:05:38] And although we make it 90% of the way to our outcome, we give up.

[00:05:42] We quit.

[00:05:44] We fall short of the finish line.

[00:05:46] What's strange is these feelings of discouragement and embarrassment are completely mental.

[00:05:52] If we fail, we look around and hope no one noticed and we vow to never do it again.

[00:05:57] Big mistake.

[00:05:59] We must fail.

[00:06:00] We must figure out what doesn't work so we can figure out what does.

[00:06:05] Children already know this part of the formula.

[00:06:07] Every child fails hundreds of times before she is able to walk.

[00:06:11] But what does the child do?

[00:06:12] Does she try a handful of times and then cower in embarrassment after failing?

[00:06:17] No.

[00:06:18] She continually changes her strategy.

[00:06:21] She keeps trying until she gets it right.

[00:06:24] That's what all kids do.

[00:06:26] And now nearly every person in the world can walk.

[00:06:29] We don't need goals to live a compelling, meaningful, purpose-driven life.

[00:06:34] And we certainly don't need goals to make us happy.

[00:06:37] If you're not getting what you want, though, it's a good idea to ask yourself these four questions.

[00:06:42] They might help you clear the clutter, obstructing your path.

[00:06:46] Thankfully, this formula doesn't work only for large goals.

[00:06:49] It works for any situation in your life.

[00:06:52] For example, if you get into an argument with a loved one, ask yourself these same four questions.

[00:06:58] You'll quickly discover your desired outcome isn't to argue.

[00:07:02] The outcome you want is something else.

[00:07:04] Once you uncover your true outcome and its purpose, you can develop a strategy to get what you want,

[00:07:11] reevaluating your actions until you reach your outcome.

[00:07:15] The same goes for every aspect of life, health, relationships, passion, growth, contribution.

[00:07:22] If you ask these four questions constantly, you'll uncover myriad revelations about yourself,

[00:07:29] and you'll accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

[00:07:37] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:39] What is my outcome?

[00:07:41] by Joshua Fields Milburn of TheMinimalists.com.

[00:07:44] And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:47] Thank you to Joshua.

[00:07:48] I agree that the why is the most important question of these four.

[00:07:53] His example of wanting to make a billion dollars while extreme really is true.

[00:07:58] But even with less extreme goals like losing weight,

[00:08:02] it could be that we're not succeeding because we haven't thought about that why.

[00:08:07] Why do we want to lose weight?

[00:08:09] Is it to feel better about ourselves?

[00:08:11] If that's the case, losing weight might not do it, unfortunately,

[00:08:15] because how we feel about ourselves might not change,

[00:08:18] and we'll just end up focusing on another aspect of our bodies.

[00:08:23] Is it to be healthier?

[00:08:25] That's a decent answer, but I think we could go even further and ask why to that too.

[00:08:30] Why do we want to be healthier?

[00:08:32] Because that's what society tells us?

[00:08:35] Or is it because we want to be in less pain now or in the future?

[00:08:40] Or maybe be healthy enough to live a long life and see our kids grow up?

[00:08:45] I think if we reach the true answer and then write it down,

[00:08:49] we'll have a much better chance of turning it into reality.

[00:08:52] So maybe think about what goals you have and answer these four questions today.

[00:08:57] With that, thank you for being here and listening through to the end.

[00:09:00] I can only keep doing this with you continuing to listen.

[00:09:03] Wishing you a great rest of your day and week and month and year, of course.

[00:09:08] And I'll see you tomorrow as usual.

[00:09:09] Where your optimal life awaits.

[00:09:11] What is the right answer?

[00:09:12] So, let's see.