Re:
Long-term goals are a series of short-term bursts and inspirations. It's only that the MIND operates in 3 places: PAST , PRESENT, FUTURE. So people are very delusional about reality, because the only thing REAL is your physical body. The MIND has the immense power to live in 3 planes, and does so, of which most people act on the BASIS of what happened (past) or what will or they want to happen (future), with little regard for HERE and NOW.
I'd had the same convo with someone regarding relationships. They asked "How do we (I) make it better?" You start by making NOW better so you look back and the POSITIVE outweighs the negative. A relationship is merely a string of POSITIVE or NEGATIVE outcomes forming the basis of a happy or sad relationship. Over TIME, people lose their lust or oneitis for an X because the NEGATIVE outweighs the positive, and your mind now has the vision that the person in the PAST is bad, and would rightly be Bad in the PRESENT and the FUTURE.
Goals are mutually exclusive of the future, when the expected outcome is equal to or less than what you invest. This is very common now in college educations. The hype is that, by getting a degree, you'll end up better off. THAT used to be the case, when the return on invested TIME and MONEY was roughly 10-100: 1. College used to cost 300$ and the graduate would earn 3000$, and on and on. But as soon as degrees became commonplace, the return relative to INVESTED dollars diminised, and margins declined. I use education as one example, because kids (18+) invest their childish youth on a career path they've probably only romanticized and never had any intimate contact with. Moreover, they invest upwards of $10000 per year, both in lost potential earnings, apprenticeship, and time, for the prospect of HIGHER future earnings. I won't debate the merits of education now.
But, if you put forth 4 years, 40k, and the lost opportunity for a degree you don't want to PASSIONATELY use, yes it's a waste. A total complete waste. Each course of your degree, IF passionately enjoyed, will ultimately lead to an easy and bright future.
If we're dealing in education here, then the reality is, a person who doesn't WANT to be at university will flunk out. They'll be forced SOMEHOW to get some occupation. Maybe they get 1 they like, and maybe they don't. But if they choose to remain a grocery bagger, so be it. That's their own life choice. Now, perhaps they realize they could run their OWN grocery store...what do they do?
They go to school to learn business, law, taxes, finance, marketing, sales, customer relations, and so forth COMBINED with their interest in the grocery business and EXCEL beyond their wildest dreams BECAUSE they have the desire and passion to execute.
Alot of advisors in Financial Planning, most notably Ric Edelman, began as a person who only wanted to know what to do financially, and ended up becoming wildly successful. They ended up broke, needed means to get out of debt, and then ended up with a new career path.
It doesn't always happen that way, but what is your purpose for existence beyond merely surviving ONCE you've accomplished that?
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See, in fitness guys have a problem sometimes doing it regularly, with discipline. The problem isn't that fitness/exercise isn't fun, it's what they LINK it to. Normally, they say to overweight guys 'Get in the gym.' Problem is...maybe it isn't what they like to do? Try golf, a martial art, bodyweight exercises, running, climbing, biking, and so forth. The gym isn't the only venue. But it's when people say "THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IT WORKS" Pleasure and Goals DO become mutually exclusive because they do not personalize them to the individual.
If you have passion for something and want to be the best at it, but don't want to put the time in, I'd question whether it's your true passion or not?
I golf, as I've stated many times. Putting in practice is like having sex or beating off palm children, it's ALL good. It's like watching football. Watching a BAD game is better than NOT watching one. There are SOME basics to life. You can't avoid the need to wash clothes, take showers, brush your teeth, etc. Those are a fact of life and comes with the responsibility of existence. However, beyond SURVIVAL is where goals come in, and whatever GOAL you define is meant to be exciting, scary, but something you REALLY want.
In sales, if you're ALREADY doing well, and enjoy, then making a sales goal to buy yourself a new car if you double or triple your sales, is natural, and it serves to motivate and validate your spending. However, if you set a sales goal for a product you're JUST learning to sell, or don't like, the goal won't be achieved. And what's the purpose of sacrificing ALL that time, stress, anxiety, and frustration, just to have something?
There's a value to GETTING that car, inasmuch as there's value IN THE CAR. But it has to be MORE than just the social approval you gather from it.
If I applied this logic to say, working out, and I found that I like bodyweight exercises, which are normally pushups, pullups, squats, and back bridges, I could challenge myself to do 1 more each day. And in doing so, I'd be materially improved in ALL aspects. But it's when you ALIGN goals with things you don't, they DO become mutually exclusive.
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Jim Rohn highlighted something regarding "values and goals" and that, alot of times, people EXCHANGE one for the other. Meaning, people rush to make tons of dough, blow it, live more of quality of life, but spend less time with their family to make it, worsen their health, and neglect habits they enjoy. That's NOT a NET gain in lifestyle, values, or goals. You stayed flat. But we often don't view it that way. Not that it's 100% right, but what's the point of more dough if you have LESS family time. You're in worse shape than before. Getting the money is just a LONGER route to what you really want, which is time with your family.
Not all FEEL GOOD decisions are in your best interests. Sexually speaking, you might be turned on by some girl you just met, even as short as 3 weeks, and feel SEX would be ideal. However, you don't know her, her psychological makeup, if she's on protection, if you can trust, if she lies, her intentions, etc, yet you do it anyways. That's not necessarily a GOOD decision. Just because IT FEELS RIGHT. You can take that route, insolongas you're willing to deal with whatever comes of it.
Most times, in regards to Nocturnal's entertainment industry analogy people TOLERATE their jobs, but if asked was it worth the 30 years or so of loyalty, they just BOUGHT THINGS to make up for the LACK of feelings that had at work. They had negative feelings at work, and so the purchase of many consumer products offsets that, because socially speaking, you gain status and some respect and admiration. Perhaps you accumulate a nice nest egg, or a fat salary, or a nice crib, all these things bring EXTERNAL gains, but only TEMPORARY internal validation.
People COULD have lot less and be wealthier and have more time, but they don't realize it, because we're so consumer driven, that, we think we must HAVE to BE.
A-Unit
