Image from: https://engaged-brains

Image from: https://engaged-brains

To achieve the extraordinary, we have to set our sights on the impossible.  This may sound silly when you first think about it, but it is actually very true. We first have to believe that we can achieve those things that we set our sights on. Once we do that, we can start moving towards them and eventually we will almost achieve them. Sometime we will even be able to fully achieve what we set our sights on, but if we do, where do we go from there? That is where the idea of the end goal being impossible comes into play. If the goal is impossible, there will always be something to work towards.

Let’s break this idea down a bit. First of all, there is a fundamental change in our psyche we have to achieve and that is to believe that we can achieve those things that we set our sights on. In fact, this belief is really a lynch pin to leading a fulfilling life. If we don’t have this belief, than we will let life dictate our lives instead of us dictating our lives. We will be tossed around by the vagaries of life and that isn’t going to be a fulfilling life. So step one is to cultivate this belief in ourselves and our abilities.

Next up is an understanding of how we work as humans. If we strive for something and truly desire it, we will find a way to achieve it. This is as true for an individual as it is for the species. So, now that we believe in ourselves and our ability, we need to set our sights on something that we truly desire, that goal at the end of the road. As long as we keep moving towards that goal, we will achieve it at some point because that is how humans work when they are really passionate about something. We find the ways we need to get to where we want to be as long as we don’t get in our own way with doubts and fears. After all we did get a man on the moon.  See step one and the belief in ourselves.

Finally, we need to make sure that we don’t achieve and then fail. What I mean by this is that if we a goal that we then achieve, we have the habit of letting our drive fail and sliding back into the pit that we started in. The achievement is what was driving us forward, allowing us to have that passion and power that we used to achieve what we wanted. So, instead of letting all that go, we can trick ourselves into always pushing, always making our lives better in the long term. That trick is to make sure that the goal we have out in front of us is impossible to ever truly achieve. If we can’t actually achieve the final goal then we will never find ourselves in the position to lose that drive to achieve. The key here is to make sure that the goals that we do achieve on the way to the impossible goal are fulfilling and enrich our lives. In this way we continue to strive towards that impossible goal, constantly having the determination and drive to keep going while still finding fulfillment in our lives.

So what is that impossible goal for you and what are the fulfilling achievements along the way to that goal that will make your life into something you want to live?