Good intentions are not enough

Whenever we set out to reach a goal we have to be willing to do the difficult work required to change. We can’t simply have a positive idea of a better future and then wish and wish until we obtain it.

This means that we have to do things that we probably don’t want to do. If we keep doing what we want to do, we will keep doing the same things we are doing today. And if we keep doing what we are doing today we will keep getting the same results.

Now this simplifies it a bit too much. If we are working towards a goal, we might be making progress towards that goal. If we keep doing what we are doing we are likely working and making it more likely that we will reach our target.

But for most people who want something better in their life, they go from not doing anything meaningful in pursuit of their goal to suddenly envisioning what they want. This motivates them to suddenly obtain this new future version.

But what they don’t usually realize is that the work required gets minimalized when we dream about the future. In other words, when we start to set the goal and plan for it, we will likely not give enough focus to the difficult work involved.

Instead we will get caught up in the rewards. We will envision what we will do when we reach our goal. We will envision what it will feel like. We think about how our life will be improved.

To get to that point, however, you will need to do a lot of difficult work. You can’t simply close your eyes and wish, and then open them and expect success.

Instead you have to figure out how to do the hard work. How can you keep going through adversity? How can you make sure you don’t quit? How do you actually do what is necessary?

Once you shift your conscious thoughts towards the actions necessary, you will likely get overwhelmed. The positive feelings around how you are going to celebrate your victory are replaced with real-life challenges and discomfort.

But this is where real improvement lives. It lives in the difficulties. It lives in the work. It lives in the discomfort. It lives where most people avoid.

The systems and habits approach to improvement aligns its methodology to this action-based thinking. It minimizes the end result and the rewards we hope to obtain. It starts to ingrain the work and steps necessary to improve.

It uses progress as the measuring stick. This allows us to avoid discouragement when we realize we have worked hard but are still far from the goal we set.

When we align our thoughts on the actions, we start to ask the question – How? How are we going to do the work? How are we going to make sure we stick with it?

The answer lies in the systems and habits in our lives. We start to shift the daily activities and routines. This allows us to start to live differently. We can then live by doing the action steps on a repeated basis. We can start to live the improvement we want to see.

But we won’t do that if we don’t step away from envisioning the rewards to focus on the action steps. Put more time in the work and less time on the goal setting. Who cares what specific goals you set if you know the direction you need to head? Instead just start heading in that direction and figure out how to do the work. Because good intention and hoping for the best isn’t enough. You have to get to the work in order to truly improve.