How Bad Do You Really Want It?

In this challenging economic climate, we find ourselves asking this question often as we evaluate every purchase decision. However, I’ve also spent the past year asking myself this question as it relates to achieving a major professional goal – bringing SucceedingWomen.com to fruition.

I’ve dreamed of a female professional development collaborative for years – but how bad did I really wish to achieve it? For some reason, 2008 became the year – so much so that I found myself sacrificing vacations, normal guilty pleasures & other commitments just to make it happen.Strangely, in spite of the enormous compromising impact it made on my “normal” life, the desire to make it happen was even more compelling. I surprised myself, once the momentum kicked in, at how BAD I wanted to succeed with this goal, & how easy it was to put everything else in a holding pattern just to see it through.

Have you ever wanted to achieve something so bad you automatically began clearing a path to allow progress to continue its journey?

In a recent article by Michael Staver, of the Staver Group, he notes that most people lack the willingness, focus, discipline & courage to do the work. He believes that we often carry into our pursuits an unrealistic view of our circumstances & our capabilities as they relate to the matter at hand.

His observation resonated with me. How many times in my own life have I talked incessantly about something I wanted to accomplish but was unrealistic in how much time & effort that goal achievement would take in relation to how much of my time & effort I was willing to take away from other things to achieve it.

I don’t like to focus! I like to flitter from one project to another – like a butterfly – working on whatever inspires me in the moment. Yes, doing so can be pleasurable but the end result can be less-than-desirable.

It’s now been almost a year since my last pleasure trip – this from someone who was born to travel. Do I miss it? A little. But my life is far more exciting right now as I see highly-desired goals finally come to fruition. If I had travelled during this intense time of goal-pursuit, the ROI of pleasure for that trip would have been limited. I’m in “work mode” right now and the results are showing it.

- Do you have goals that you’ve talked about forever but haven’t accomplished?
- Do you find yourself making up new excuses why you’ve put off their pursuit a little longer?
- Are you sure those goals are still as relevant & as critical to your happiness as you once believed?

After all, circumstances change. Maybe you’ve hung on to those goals based on a set of outdated assumptions.

Realize that the more goals we take on simultaneously the less likelihood of bringing any to complete fruition.

What goal could you focus on that would energize you to the extent that giving time to any other effort would pale in comparison? That’s where to focus! After all, accomplishing one goal sure beats talking about many!

Make your choice and start aligning your energy, talent & resources around it. You might just be surprised how much return you’ll actually receive when you really choose to see it through.