Being Committed

It’s About To Get Real

People get confused about how to get from the resolution, the promise, the intention setting phase of things and into the actual doing or actualization phase. There seems to be a chasm between the two and no engineering plans for building a bridge. The end result looks perfect and shiny and makes us feel good. We’re clear on what it is we’re intending to achieve and we’re probably amazingly, in aching detail, aware of where we are and who we are at this moment, which begins to feel like the big START spot on a game board with a trail of squares marching in front of us to the horizon. The issue is not so much about what steps to take or what is required. Those are usually easy to figure out now we can Google and pretty much anything and everything is there. But where to look, what to do with the information, what to do first seems like a game we’re starting which not only has no rule book but all the words are written in a foreign language.

Add to this the fact many people will choose to take on goals they have failed at before. And instead of seeing those failures as well earned experience which has honed them and helped them so they’re prepared to succeed this time, the experiences are carried around as baggage holding them back and brought out to be examined each time something doesn’t go exactly as planned.

So how do you get from goal setting to actualization? Well, there are a number of ways. Will power is the one which gets tried first, usually. It’s a skill of the mind which is what we are trained to rely on as our primary resource. Will power acts somewhat like a ranch hand constantly wrangling us as if we’re wild mustangs which refuse to be controlled. Strict rules are enforced, a plan is developed, and then we are wrangled into doing what needs to be done each day until we get to the goal or we don’t. Like all things, will power is neither good nor bad, but it can have good or bad effects depending on how it is used. And it’s not a universal fix all. Will power works best when supporting something you really want to achieve, and enjoy doing, in a way which is mindful, organized, and can be sustained over a long period of time. Will power is bad for getting you to do something you absolutely don’t want to do or need to do in a less than organized manner. It’s really bad at doing something like helping you make an…