You Probably Won’t Achieve Your Goals This Year — Unless You Try This

How to step up your game on 2022

I can’t remember how many times I’ve started a new year saying “alright, this is finally gonna be my year”.

It never was.

I didn’t realize it then, but nothing was happening because I’d been sitting comfortably, waiting for my life movie to start playing instead of getting up and pressing the play button myself.

As someone who has been battling depression for years, as much as I know this isn’t the best version of me and I can do so much better, it’s not easy to commit to something. Things can feel overwhelming.

It’s harder to reach your goals when your brain is constantly tired and keeps holding your body hostage.

That’s why this year, instead of focusing on the endgame, I’m choosing to focus on the small, usually hidden steps.

Say “no” to yourself more often

If 2021 had a rewind of most used phrases, most likely my number one would be “money will come back, I deserve this”.

The other day while still in bed, it occurred to me it would be a great idea if I bought $300 worth of winter clothes for my daughter. We live in Florida. There were no plans of traveling somewhere cold anytime soon.

Don’t get me wrong. Spoiling yourself isn’t bad. The problem is when an occasional purchase turns into 3 days a week Doordash orders or random online shopping sprees. Instead, take that extra money and save it for a rainy day. Invest it in your projects. Whatever suits you best.

Nothing good ever comes from being impulsive. Don’t take that second nap. Don’t spend hours on TikTok. Set some boundaries for yourself. If you’re good at saying no to other people, practice it on yourself as well.

It’s all about sacrifices if you want to keep moving forward.

Consistency > Talent

Success is not about being inherently good at something. It’s about showing up.

One thing I realized held me back the most from being consistent with my projects is that, even though I tried to convince myself to “take it easy”, in reality, I was always hoping for instant success and got discouraged when I didn’t see the results I wanted.

On his new Youtube show “The Best Shape Of My Life”, Will Smith shared a story about how his father got him and his younger brother to work on a new brick wall for his store when they were little kids.

Whenever they would get discouraged or tired, their dad would remind them to focus on each brick instead of thinking about the finished wall.

“Your job is just to lay each brick perfectly on top of each other”

Stop thinking about the wall.

Focus on the brick you have to lay today. Eventually, you’ll have yourself a wall. If you give up now, you’ll only have half a wall.

Get comfortable with discomfort

I used to think the only benefit to waking up at 5 a.m was getting more things done.

Turns out, the most valuable thing you can get out of starting your day before the birds are singing is the discomfort it creates. If you make it part of your routine, you eventually get used to being uncomfortable. Once you get there, it’s game over. Nothing will stop you.

Get up early. Take that cold shower. Sacrifice a few hours of sleep. Expose yourself to criticism. Anything that makes you uncomfortable, do it.

Just think of all those things you’ve put off because you were waiting until it felt right. You’ll never know your full potential if you keep putting comfort as your top priority.

Don’t waste time inside your head

If overthinking was a job, I’d probably have made millions by now.

Evaluating possible outcomes and doing some pre-planning isn’t bad. What’s bad is when you keep all those awesome ideas stored in a box and forget about them.

Every time I open my closet and see all the things I bought when I “decided” to start making Youtube videos are a constant reminder that overthinking hasn’t brought me any good. And that’s probably the same for you. I’ve yet to meet someone who’s accomplished something by just thinking.

As they say, the best time to start something was probably 10 years ago. The second best time to start is right now.

Don’t look to the sides

My daughter is 11. One of her classmates got creative during the pandemic and discovered she was really good at baking, so she started selling desserts online. Since being an 11-year-old entrepreneur is not something you hear about every day, her teachers made it a point to bring it up almost every class.

Even though my daughter was happy for her friend, she couldn’t help but compare herself to her classmate. She felt pressured to start a business too, even though it wasn’t expected of her because of her young age.

Comparison is almost inevitable, especially if you’re surrounded by seemingly more accomplished and successful people. What you have to remember is that everyone’s journey is different.

Comparison is only useful when you compare to someone who has the exact same life as you. Exact same family, background, life story, everything. If you keep looking to the sides, you will miss the road you have ahead of you. No one needs that extra frustration.

The bottom line

I still have a long way to go with this list.

What keeps me going is that I’m excited to meet my new self, or rather, regain that part of myself that was able to get things done before things got tough.

Start by taking tiny steps towards your goals. Even if you don’t get there at the end of the year, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re already on your way. Be patient. See where each step ends up taking you.

Brick by brick.