The greatest human tragedy I see happening in the world today is not finishing what we start. Well, to be honest there are much greater tragedies than that, but I felt like starting off with an epic sounding sentence.
Let me start off this post with a short story. It wasn’t very long ago that I was a totally different person. Not just a little different, a lot different. I’m talking so different that I’m not even sure if I’d of liked myself if I ran into myself back then. That is if the new me met the old me.
I have undergone so many changes since March of 2006 that I can barely keep up with them all. But before all that began, I had two small seemingly insignificant goals that I had made, that I still continue to keep even now.
We all jump into the January 1 New Year’s Resolution bandwagon and ride along for about a week or two (sometimes a month or two) before we hit a bump on the trail and fly out of the back and find ourselves lost on some Texas country back road with no idea where to go next.
So this year I wanted something to be different. I actually wanted to set goals that I’d complete, to feel what it’s like to say I’m going to do something and actually do it. So, to begin with I had two small goals. They were very easy and didn’t take much time out of my day.
The first goal was to read the entire Bible in 1 year. I searched online and found a Bible reading plan, and on January 1 I started with Genesis. That was 10 months ago. Today I’m reading Micah and Nahum. The end of next week I’ll be in the New Testament. I decided that reading the Bible EVERYDAY was important to me. And to be honest, at first it wasn’t.
I had to struggle to get through the first 5 books, commonly referred to as the Pentateuch. Then something crazy started happening. I’d wake up everyday and I’d have something to do! This might seem crazy but:
Just 10 months ago, when I woke up everyday I didn’t have anything to do. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a car, I lived at home, and weighed 460 pounds. I dabbled in some writing and tried to keep the house clean, but other than that, I DIDN”T DO ANYTHING!
I think that having something to do everyday was the seed that grew into something mighty. In addition to reading the Bible everyday, I also committed to learning 5 new words everyday by following an Ebook I had found. You learn 5 new words Monday though Thursday and take a test on those words on Friday.
Today I am 40 weeks into the program and have learned quite a few new words. I don’t have mastery of the words per se, but I do have a greater knowledge of understanding unknown words in context.
I said all that to say this. Since that time 10 months ago, I have absolutely, positively, totally make a 180 degree turn about in life. As of today, since that average day in March when I laid on my bed and wrote my first goal statement, I have:
Opened two Cell Phone Stores that both turn a consistent profit, even with my limited involvement.
Lost 83 pounds (as of last week, haven’t weighed in again yet).
Finished my AA and enrolled in college working on my Bachelors in Communication.
Attended the gym consistently and gotten trained for free from my personal trainer.
Bought a 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor — which I absolutely LOVE.
Become fast friends with a direct mail/internet millionaire who has become my mentor and partner in my online businesses
Started this FREE blog site, OnlyOneMike.com (which has lots of bugs right now, we’re working on it — sorry!)
Next week my first product site will be released, I’ll let you guys here know when it is first released. 🙂
And a whole lot more!
Now I didn’t say all that stuff to brag. I am not that kind of person. I am saying that because I need to say that YOU have just as much right to do whatever it is you want to do as well. There may be things in your life preventing you from doing certain things (a blind person can’t be a racecar driver for example) but in most cases the level of success you achieve is in direct proportion to the amount of focused effort you put out.
And by effort, I don’t mean hard work. There will be work, and sometimes it may seem hard. But in the end, you need to acclimate yourself to a new way of thinking. By keeping two small goals: reading the Bible and learning new words, I was able to add more goals as I went.
When I saw that I could keep goals that I set, I decided to set more goals. Goals beget more goals. I always have cool ideas planned because as I “finish” one goal, I think of 10 more to replace it with. I put finished in quotes because goals are never completed, well at least goals in the sense of never having to work on that goal again.
When I reach my goal weight, I am fully aware that I must continue a maintenance mode to keep my weight under control. It’s the same with all goals we achieve. There is always a level of continued effort, even if the effort is very minimal.
So, if you’ve been weary of setting goals you won’t/can’t keep, then don’t worry! Just pick something easy you know you can do. Then, do it! Enjoy the little things, the excitement that each day brings.
I listen to a great Podcaster by the name of Adam Eason and in a particular Podcast he said a quote that I have fallen in love with. The quote is by Margaret Storm Jameson and it’s extremely simple and powerful. I’m going to close with this quote and I want you to remember one thing. You don’t need others to believe in you, you only have to believe in yourself. Goals are real things that are alive and exist apart from you. Don’t ever let them down by not following them. The more you goals you achieve the more you will discover their unending power.
Have a Blessed Day!!
A Quote By Margaret Storm Jameson:
The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is: a miracle and unrepeatable.
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