Goal Setting: The Power of Purpose
Do you ever have one of these attitudes regarding your goals?
"I have too many problems."
"I'm too old."
"I'd rather stay in bed."
"Whatever made me think I could do that?"
"I'm sick of the whole thing."
"I can't do it."
"I'll do it some other time."
"I don't have enough energy to do it."
"I didn't realize it would be this difficult."
"It seems too hard for me to do."
"I probably can't do it since most people can't."
Those who get into a "can't" mode are on the road to failure.
"I can't do the project."
"I can't pay my bills."
"I can't succeed."
Almost all government regulations concentrate on things you cannot do.
"You can't park there."
"You can't keep that money."
"Unless you follow these regulations, you can't..."
Pick up any law and notice how often the words "Prohibit," "Forbidden" and "Disallowed" occur while words like "Encouraged," "Allowed" and "Recommended" are absent.
Some employers like to act like governments and stop things.
"You can't leave early."
"You can't have more authority."
"You can't do things your own way."
Businesses do it to customers.
"We can't see you without an appointment."
"I can't give you a discount if you pay in full."
"Sorry, we cannot help you."
The real damage occurs when you stop yourself.
"I can't handle more work."
"I can't earn more money."
"I can't delegate."
Have You Been Stopped?
When you feel like you have more barriers or stops to your success than opportunities, you are stopped. When all you see are problems, you are stopped. When you decide the forces in the universe are against you, you are stopped. Whenever you feel like giving up, you are stopped.
"Stops all occur because of failed purposes. Behind every stop there is a failed purpose." -- L. Ron Hubbard
The sequence goes like this:
1. You have a purpose to _________.
2. You then get the idea your purpose failed.
3. You invent or agree with stops or barriers to your purpose.
Examples:
1. Remember some of your old purposes? Make $20 million. Raise a happy family. Tour Europe. Get involved in the community. Make a major contribution to society. Help people.
2. When you made some effort to achieve your purpose, you felt stopped. Maybe achieving the purpose turned out to be more difficult than you expected. Maybe you saw someone else fail. Perhaps you became afraid or lazy. Maybe someone got in your road.
3. You then agreed with the barriers. "It's too much work for me." "They don't want me to do this." "No one succeeds without lucky breaks." "It's better to settle for less."
Some people go one step further and begin to oppose solutions: "Don't try to help me as it is impossible." "I tried all the solutions and none of them work." "No one has the answers."
When you have a failed purpose, you stop looking for ways to achieve your purpose. You get tired. Fortunately, you can eliminate your loser, negative attitudes.
The Law Regarding Failed Purposes
This formula solves this problem of failed purposes.
"There is a law about this: All you have to do to restore life and action is to rekindle the failed purpose. The stops will at once blow off." -- L. Ron Hubbard
A difficult problem with a simple solution. Just fire up that original purpose and the stops or barriers magically disappear!
Example: Jill, an amateur athlete, wants to enter and finish a 25-mile marathon even though she lost a leg in an auto accident when she was a teenager. She starts to run every day with her prosthetic leg, but trips and falls every mile or so. People keep telling her, "You're so brave!" "I really admire you for trying." "I would have given up long ago." Comments like these make her feel her goal may be too big.
As Jill is leaving to run one rainy morning, her husband says, "Honey, why don't you stay home today. It's too cold and wet." She leaves anyway, does her stretches in the carport and starts to run.
Usually, her real leg has a slight cramp, but this morning it feels worse. Jill normally pushes through, but for some reason, she lets it bother her. Suddenly, she falls on the sidewalk and scrapes her elbows and hands. A delivery truck drives by and soaks her clothes while she is down. So she just sits on the sidewalk for a minute. The pain of her leg and her scrapes get to be too much.
Finally, her tears blending with the rain, she slowly walks back home. Her purpose has failed.
She tells her family and friends, "I just didn't realize how tough it would be." "It's too cold and wet out there." "I probably should have given up long ago."
Jill then learns the law about failed purposes. She thinks about ways she can fire up her original purpose. "All I wanted to do was enter and finish that stupid 25-mile run! Why did I want to do that? Oh yeah, it wasn't to prove anything. It wasn't to make people admire me. I wanted to run that race long before I lost the leg. I remember when I first saw people finishing the race on TV when I was in junior high school. I thought I should do that. It would be a really great thing to do. I would just prove to myself that I could run 25 miles. THAT was my purpose! I still want that!"
Within seconds, Jill feels great! She sees no reason she can't finish the 25-mile race. She changes her clothes and gets back into training. But this time, she is more determined than ever. "Nothing is going to stop me this time!" The stops have blown off.
Recommendations
What have you given up on? What did you once want, but now think is impossible? What purposes have you had in the past that are now failed purposes?
FIRE THEM UP! Rekindle, renew and revive those original reasons.
Make the purposes stronger. Put more energy into them. Convince yourself that you can accomplish those purposes despite all the barriers. Notice what happens to all the "reasons" preventing that purpose.
Now plan how you will reach these goals. Focus on how you can succeed. Persist until you win.
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