Want to achieve your goals this year?
Stop acting like an amateur and start acting like a pro.
An amateur is a person who engages in a pursuit on an unpaid rather than a professional basis.
Think about your current mode of employment, or job that you must do because someone else’s life depends on it.
You show up every day.
When it is cold, wet, and raining, you show up.
When you are tired and would rather watch Netflix, you show up.
When your best friend is in town for just one day, or it is your partner’s birthday, you may leave early, but you still show up.
Every morning you don’t wake up and contemplate whether or not you will decide to fulfill your responsibilities today.
You just do it.
In addition, while working you don’t typically suffer from feelings of guilt, laziness, or think you are wasting time as often happens when an amateur attempts to take an hour away from “their job” to paint, run, cook, bike, write, or play their instrument.
So what do you think would happen if you applied that same philosophy to your next goal?
With every goal comes massive resistance. Even if it is something that we desperately want, we will find every excuse to procrastinate, delay, or self-sabotage. By eliminating the choice of whether or not you will show up, you also remove the opportunity for that resistance (in whatever form of excuse it looks like) to stop you from doing the work required to achieve your goal.
Treat your goals as if your profession depended on achieving them.
Don’t think about whether you want to do it; just do it.
BUT, there is one caveat that you need to consider.
Many people already have more jobs than they can handle.
Think about which responsibilities in your life are non-negotiable.
Beyond the employment that makes you money, your list of non-negotiable responsibilities, jobs, or goals may include:
- raising children
- attending to elderly parents
- starting a new exercise program
- volunteering in the community
- serving as a board member
- pursuing your love for music or art
- learning a new skill
- engaging in a sport or several sports
- playing on a team
- learning to become the next Top Chef
- losing weight
- renovating your home
- dealing with an illness or injury
- traveling for work or pleasure
It is impossible to continue adding more jobs to the list without getting burnt out and ultimately failing at all of them.
If you are someone who overextends themselves, you will need to review your current list and evaluate which responsibilities can be put on hold or delegated, while you work on achieving your new goal.
Once you have narrowed down the list into something that is both manageable and realistic, add your new goal to the top of the list and the rest will fall into place.
If your “profession” is to become a 50+ road cyclist and finish a fondo before x amount of time, then you will need to do what a professional 50+ rider would do. You need to sleep, eat, rest, recover, and train like a cyclist. Every day you need to do something that gets you closer to your goal of becoming a professional 50+ fondo rider.
Remember, this is your job. It is non-negotiable. Now stop thinking about it and go and do it.
