It’s the start of a new year and more than likely the few (or many) days we have taken away from work or projects have provided ample opportunity for reflection. When we aren’t chasing the next client, project, sale, invoice or deadline we suddenly become very aware of the things that we need to change in our lives. Typically, these take the form of New Year’s resolutions. Many of these we will never even attempt to keep. Many won’t last 30 days. Some may result in permanent change, but most won’t. To quote Snoop Dogg “Don’t be mad at me, I’m only being real”
The absolute worst goals to fail to achieve are those that we actually put a lot of effort and a lot of focus into. The year one sets out to achieve something…and unlike the prevailing trend, actually does everything possible to make it a reality. But still fails in the end.
The motivational speakers would have us believe that we failed because we didn’t “go harder” or “dig deeper”. We should have woken up earlier, trained harder, slept less and eaten better. It’s mostly BS but we are made to feel like this failure is completely due to us not applying ourselves effectively. Imagine how demoralising it must feel when you failed to achieve something that you tried really hard to achieve, but the world still deems it appropriate to refer to you as a loser.
The unfortunate reality we have been force fed by the whole guru zeitgeist is that everything is achievable. If it is not achieved it is because there is something we inherently lack that we are not addressing. This popular belief is true in many cases but not true in all situations. Goals may be realistic but everyone knows that the goals that matter are particularly stretching. Stretching meaning you know before you start that they are realistic and can be achieved, but won’t be easy to achieve. Being motivated and driven individuals we try and achieve them anyway. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes the reality is that we don’t.
I guess you can tell where I am going with this? That it’s OK not to succeed? If that’s what you think then you are wrong and that is not my message today. My simple message is that sometimes you may fail. You don’t have to be OK with it, however, it is a reality of being human. Not everything will go your way, even if you invest disproportionate effort or resources into it. You don’t have to accept it at all. But you just have to be aware of it, because it will happen to you at some point. And sometimes this will be despite you doing everything you could to achieve it. Don’t believe the hype, nobody succeeds at everything. Hopefully,that won’t stop you from trying anyway because the opposite is also true. Nobody fails at everything either.
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