What do you want? We all want something; that is just human nature. It could be the dream home for your spouse and kids, maybe even your favorite car that you have wanted to drive ever since you were a kid, or it could be your forever person who loves, understands, and wishes to build a life with you. These wants do not have to be enormous life goals; your wants could be paying off your credit cards, networking with new people, making an extra hundred dollars each month, or dozens of other things.
However, if you want these things, then why don’t you have them? You may think that you do not have them because you do not have the time or the money to get them, or that doing so is too hard to do at the moment and that is what’s holding you back from getting what you want, but it’s not. What is actually holding you back are your standards, beliefs, and strategy.
“You don’t get what you want, you get what you have to have” (Brandon Carter). This is where your standards kick in because whatever you change from a want to a “have to have” will become what you achieve. No matter how much you work you won’t rise to your ambitions; instead, you will fall to your standards. This may sound negative at first but that is only the case if you have low standards and leave them low. Imagine you are in the gym and your standard is to do 10 reps of whichever machine you are using that day. Some days you may work harder and push past 10 so that you can get stronger but whenever you are having an off day or don’t want to work out you will fall to your standard and only do 10.
This mentality will ring true for not only your personal life, but also your business. Whatever standards you set for yourself, be it your personal health, your sales, or your monthly revenue, whenever things are tough and it matters the most, whatever standard you have set for yourself is what you will do. To grow so that you can get what you want you will first have to change your habits by finding ways to motivate yourself.
Many things, when used in tandem, WILL change your standards when done repeatedly, but I will give you the first one to use today. The first way to change your standards is write a list of love. The list of love consists of EVERYTHING that will improve in your life and the things you want out of life such as money, traveling, status, etc. Once you write the list of love keep a copy of this list on your phone and make sure to read it a minimum of two times a day, right when you wake up and right before you go to bed. From now on, think to yourself, “Is my current decision bringing me closer to or farther away from what is on my list of love?”
“You don’t see what you believe, you believe what you see” (also Brandon Carter). If I told you Bigfoot was real you probably wouldn’t believe me or might think I was crazy, but if you looked out your window right now and saw Bigfoot standing in front of it you would not doubt that Bigfoot is real. That same mentality can apply for the things you want in life. You may want things that you doubt you can get, or maybe you have given up on completely because you do not truly believe that they are something that you can obtain. As long as you believe that, then you are right; you will never obtain what you want. Beliefs have consequences and as long as you see yourself as someone who cannot get what you want then you will never have it. This means that you must change your beliefs so you can view yourself as someone who can get what you want.
To help change your beliefs (Don’t worry, I am not talking about religion), you can make a few changes that may sound small but when done continuously will show results, and I will give you one for now. Stop listening to negative music and by that I mean by music about things like breaking up, going to jail, or losing a loved one. This may not seem like a big deal but try it and keep track of how your thoughts change over a few weeks.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). No matter what you want, if it were easy to get, you would have it already. Since you do not have it that means that it will require work to get and to prevent yourself from doing things haphazardly, whether it be in your personal life or your business, you have to come up with a proper strategy. Just sitting around and wishing for things to change will not get you the things that you want so you must formulate a strategy to progress towards what you want. Your strategy MUST be written down and everything within this strategy should be specific, measurable and have deadlines. When coming up with this think to yourself, “If a 4th grader cannot understand my metrics, then they are too vague.”
If you are unsure how to form a strategy that will guide you on a path to get what you want, find a mentor, locate like-minded individuals, or become a member of our Private Corporate Counsel (PCC) program. Schedule a free consultation and coaching session to get insight on the most effective strategy to get the things that you want in life. The PCC program could also be a good jumping off point if you are unsure of how to proceed because just having a conversation with someone who has been where you are can give you a new insight allowing you to form a better strategy.