As for motivation and goal setting, itāll come in my favorite format: itāll be tough, practical and effective. Iām telling what is happening right here and right now.
On Saturday, I got rid of the burden that Iād set up for myself: 3-5 stories every day, scheduling the posts, content plan. I felt free and at ease immediately and I was thinking that l wouldnāt even publish anything for a week, I would relax. Yeah, I would. But when Sunday evening came, I felt the inevitable desire to write though this time I wished to share something else ā what was happening right now. If you want something, then you can do it. And off any schedule.
Iāve added a new item into the updated heading of the blog ā let me call it the next āstrongholdā of a goal. It would cost a fortune (over 26 million) and this is not a joke: itās the initial price of the desired apartment. To cut the story short, while I was gazing at the wall in the bathroom, all alone, I tried to structure the information and understand what was going on. Why so⦠why so much⦠damn, everything used to be ok!
And now let me share with you what Iāve managed to ārealize.ā What the goal that upgrades you to the next level should be like:
1. IT SHOULD BE INSPIRING
Thinking of this goal should drive you mad and encourage. It should create the fountain of ideas describing the ways how to achieve this goal. Itās come as one of the reasons why we are living in St. Petersburg now. No such goals exist for me in Smolensk, but if they ever do, they just appear ridiculous. You know, it's weird and silly to maneuver around the typical Smolensk potholes on a brand-new Tesla-S. Itās a total blasphemy!
2. IT SHOULD BE SPECIFIC and VISUALIZED
A plain house near the lake, a plain apartment in the metropolis or just one million dollars mean nothing to our brain: all mentioned doesnāt motivate us to spend any extra drop of energy. You need the whole picture and specific details. The more vividly and brighter they are, the better. So far, weāve had enough of photos and ads of the apartments for sale, but I guess weāll pop in one of them soon just to look.
3. IT SHOULD BE REAL
ā¦and achievable in a reasonable time. My interval is 2 years. Well, a maximum of 3. If it takes longer, it isnāt interesting. When the brain doesnāt believe that the goal is achievable, the protective mechanism of energy saving turns on and you donāt begin to act.
4. IT SHOULD BE INCOMPATIBLE
ā¦with your current lifestyle or so-called energy level. It appears obvious to me now: if, just imagine, I earn 100 thousand candy wrappers per month, and set a goal for myself to achieve within 2-3 years, that costs (3 years) * (12 months) * (100 000) * (~ 1.5) = ~ 5,400,000 candy wrappers, then this doesnāt motivate me to make any significant changes. I would count how to increase the monthly income a little, or would try to squeeze into the budget or would wait a little longer. And would even decrease the quality of life. No, under no circumstances!
Such an approach DOES WORK, I feel like my brain is being modified and it starts to get rid of rubbish, looking for the shortest way to the goal. Youāll note this even regarding my blog. The stories will become few, they will be posted only in Instagram and only when I want them (SMM God, please forgive me). The posting process will be greatly simplified. There will be fewer commas again. Frankly speaking, I did make efforts, but the result doesnāt appeal to me. I take off the responsibility of being an expert as well, another type of burden of mine. I will stop trying to make my texts look like universal recipes for anything. Iām a man of practice, and Iāll write about what Iām applying in my everyday life, especially now, so you need to filter whether this can be applied to your life and appears safe to you. You always have comments at hand for discussions and clarifications. Iāve given up content plan. Frankly speaking, Iāve never got one, but now at least it wonāt be another burden for me. However, Iāll create a set of key sections that will help me to coordinate my further publications. Btw, you can offer the variants of topics in the corresponding discussion field (just added).
Iāve quickly come to the following insight: when you occupy all the free time with important stuff to the detriment of your family, be ready to come to a dead end. So, Iāve intuitively set this goal for myself: itās unattainable even if I work all my free time all day long from dawn till dusk doing the same kind of work. This is important for me not only because itās so difficult and dangerous, I just donāt want to lose that close communication with my daughter I established during our Nice vacation in December and on New Year holidays. I donāt hear her āPFffeeeee!!ā any longer as a reaction to my comments or prohibition. This is my personal conscious achievement. The child shouldnāt see that parents prefer some ephemeral āworkā, no matter how important it appears for them to make such a cruel choice.
I donāt want to share yet how Iām planning to achieve my goal. Try to guess in the comments - maybe weāll scrape together enough material for another useful article. If suddenly the fuse runs out, I will use a powerful tool of self-motivation that I keep in store. I will share it the moment I apply it and have inspiration.
PS: Ā I could have missed something that seemed obvious to me ā please, donāt hesitate to ask or add it. Hereinafter I wonāt be so meticulous regarding new posts. What is happening in life is more important and interesting than minor discrepancies in the narrative.
Translated by Irina Zaitseva