I wanted to dig into the subject of striving for a goal verses being happy with what you have. I have touched on this topic in the past but I want to expand on it a bit more. This is a balance is difficult and different for everyone.
Ron Morriss used to say that a lot of discontent comes from a person seeing what others have and then comparing themselves to that person (I don’t remember his exact words so I am paraphrasing).
In the self improvement arena we encounter a different type of monster than most people encounter. We are constantly trying to improve ourselves, so we read about people who have achieved what we want to achieve. One example is the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. This book is a great resource of information but we must remember that this book is to teach you a path, not the exact actions to follow to reach a specific goal.
If we get too caught up in following the exact actions of a “successful” person with the goal to reach the same height of achievement, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We are all different and it takes millions of small decisions to achieve a goal. If you don’t make the same decisions as the successful person then you may not reach the same heights they did.
So there are 3 take-aways from this.
- The overall arching principle is to improve yourself.
- When striving for a goal, be willing to accept that you may not reach the exact same point of achievement as the person you have modeled yourself after
- Sometimes reaching a goal takes longer than you hoped so enjoy the ride.
I like how you explained that a self help book/author provides a path, a blueprint to follow, yet the path we ultimately take may look different. It’s helpful to learn how others have achieved things while at the same time recognizing that we’re all different and should listen to our internal compass.
I wish more people will realize they can still be happy even if they don’t reach the same destination as another.