To one person, our society seems to be stricken with anxiety and sadness. Yet, to another, our world is full of connections and new opportunities. Usually, the way they see it, is the way they see their own lives too. So, to some, their life is a constant dragging of their feet, but others can’t wait to start their day and hit the ground running in the mornings. Their difference in point of view is more than just attitude. It comes down to their goals.
Life Purpose
I’m not talking about the person who is their #Goals, I’m talking about what they want to accomplish by the end of their life. Do they want to create great products that allow people to show their creativity, like Steve Jobs? Or create music that lets anyone feel understood, like John Mayer? Or teach each child that they can do whatever they truly set their mind to, like my english teacher, Mr. Meyer?
Or do they even have a purpose? Is their goal to just try survive each day?
The Blur Between Life and Goals
After reading, Psychocybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, the concept of goals (and life in general, I highly recommend this book!) made a lot more sense to me. There was a study with suicidal people and then people who were happy and successful and the difference came to what their goals were. The people who thought life was not worthwhile did not have worthwhile goals. There was a blur between the two. Think of the late Robin Williams, who had great success in his life. But there was a problem, he had no next goal to go toward. This is why many ‘successful’ people subconsciously ruin their lives. Because once they ruin it, then they have a goal: to re-build their life. Remember Justin Bieber’s 2014? And then he came out with “Purpose”? He had reached such a low, that he finally had a goal to reach the high again, which prompted him to write another album.
But, what about the people who don’t have the great downfall and then have to get back up again? How do they keep going? They keep raising their standards and create new, higher goals. Instead of lowering themselves and then having their goal reach their old past, these people raise the bar and their goals higher.
This immediately made me realize why my weight kept fluctuating. I would lose weight, become satisfied with where I was at, and then gain weight. I lost my goal once I became satisfied with where I was at. Satisfaction is the death of growth, and continually creating new, better goals is the cure.
Does this happen to you with other aspects? Grades? Do you get 100% on one test, and then fail the next? It’s because you feel satisfied with where you are at.
The next time you catch yourself (or your grades) feeling low, heed the warning of The Rolling Stones, and make sure you “Can’t Get No Satisfaction”.