Are You Interested or Committed?

I’m in Lake Tahoe as I write. Snowed in thanks to a massive storm which started the day before Christmas.

The snow is swirling, the wind is howling, and the drifts are getting bigger and bigger. Everything is covered in a soft, white blanket of snow. My only worries for the moment, keeping the propane tank cleared and making our food last until we can get to the grocery store!

It is the perfect environment for reading, playing games, and sitting by the fire. It is also perfect for reflecting on the year ahead. In just a few days it will be a new year…2022!

In the past I have been against New Year’s resolutions. I’ve always thought if you want to do something, you should just go ahead and do it. Why wait?

Somehow this year feels different. While I’m lucky and have much in my life to be grateful for, I have for a while felt unfocused, unfulfilled, and unsatisfied. And yet at the same time I am busy and constantly in a state of “doing.” I have a nagging sense I am not living as intentionally as I could.

Living intentionally is important to me. And by living intentionally I mean defining the life I want and working toward it. This means establishing goals and using my time thoughtfully to achieve these goals and ultimately live the life I desire. I don’t want to squander my time as I can’t get it back.

It is clear I need to make some changes. Tiago Forte says, “There’s a special kind of energy this time of year that makes change especially possible.” Perhaps I can tap into this special energy and leverage the start of the new year to find more focus, fulfillment, and satisfaction.

Goals

According to PositivePhyscology.com setting goals “helps guides your focus and helps you sustain that momentum in life. Goals also help align your focus and promote a sense of self-mastery…Setting goals not only motivates us but can also improve our mental health and our level of personal and professional success.”

It is therefore important to set the right goals across all aspects of your life. As John Assaraf asks, “What specifically do you want to achieve?” What life do you want to live? The right goals align with the life you envision. Achieving your goals will require preparation, focus, hard work and perseverance.

The very act of setting a new goal implies you are attempting something new. And doing new things often means adopting new behaviors or ways of being…which can be hard!

There are many articles written about how to set and achieve your goals. They suggest using frameworks like SMART goals, writing down your goals, setting deadlines, and creating step by step plans. But in this article, I want to share a different way to think about setting and achieving your goals.

Interested v. Committed

The week before Thanksgiving, I listened to an interview with John Assaraf, the CEO of NeuroGym and a well-known author (Having It All, The Answer, and Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power). He was speaking about what it takes to gain control over the direction of your life. One thing he said has really stuck with me. He said, “Are you interested in achieving your goals or are you committed to achieving them?” John believes he owes his success to this simple question posed to him when he was 19 years old.

In his book, Innercise, page 5, he says,

“If you are interested, you’ll do what’s convenient and what is easy. You’ll come up with excuses of why you can’t. You’ll allow your past or present circumstances to control what you think and do. If you’re interested, you won’t be willing to go through the discomfort of change yourself-because change is absolutely required if you are serious about breaking free from your current beliefs, habits, and results.

If, however, you’re committed, then you’ll do whatever it takes. You’ll take action in spite of your doubts and fears. If you are committed, you will upgrade your knowledge, your skills, and your belief system of what is possible for you to achieve. If you are serious and committed, you will choose to let go of anything that is holding you back.”

I read this and I felt a deep pull to live a committed life.

In the weeks since, I have been reflecting on these 2 questions. I believe how you answer for each of your goals has the power to dramatically influence whether you achieve your goals or not. I think it has something to do with forcing clarity around the right goals and highlighting current goals which are not aligned with the vision of the life you desire. Ultimately, it is about living intentionally.

Perhaps you, like me, are reflecting on the year ahead and thinking about setting some goals. Whether your goals are about being a better parent or spouse, making changes in your career or health, or running a marathon, ask yourself, “Are you interested in achieving your goals? Or are you committed to achieving them?”

What Does This Mean for Me?

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about these questions. They have lodged themselves in my brain as a lens to assess every aspect of my life. First and foremost, am I clear on the life I want to lead? These questions are prompting me to think more concretely about what I want to achieve. I am using these questions to rethink my goals and to reprioritize my time and actions.

I also have been spending a lot of time reflecting on how I spend my time. Have I truly been putting my heart and soul into achieving my goals? I think perhaps not. I think I might be filling my time with busy work, rather than tackling the hard “stuff” in my life. I have been defining progress and success as items checked off a to-do list, rather than asking myself, “Are the items on my to-do list even worth doing?” Or, “What is the most impactful action I could be focusing on right now?”

I hope in answering these questions I find more focus, fulfillment, and satisfaction over the coming year.

Parting Thought

Have a Happy New Year! As you make your list of goals for 2022, be it around your health, your career or family, ask yourself if you interested or committed? Get rid of the goals where your answer is interested. The time you spend on them will only detract from successfully achieving the goals you to which you are committed and to realizing the life you want.

See you next week…