Last week, I talked about the importance of goal setting. This week, I want to talk about the why behind your goals.

What is your purpose for achieving your goals? Why are they important? Why do you want them? Is the why big enough to motivate you? Is the “Why” big enough to keep your focus and attention?

Goals, like maps, keep us on course but you need to clearly define why you want to achieve those goals. Would you drive across the country without a reason why? Maybe you want to visit California? More than likely, you would consider what you wanted to do in California before you get behind the wheel of your car and start to drive there.

The same is true with our life goals. We may have an idea of why we want to achieve a goal, but until we dig deep and define the real purpose for a goal, we will rarely be motivated to achieve it.

Is your “why” self-centered or others-centered? Are you looking for instant gratification or are you hoping to impress someone else? Are you looking to create a legacy or are you hoping to change the world? Your “why” should be big enough to drive you to success. In most cases, this means that your “why” is bigger than you!

We must commit ourselves fully to achieving our goals – physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. It’s essential that all aspects of our being align with what we want to do. If our head affirms that something is important, but our body and our emotions feel no desire to get involved, we will never succeed in our aims. 

Amelia Earhart said, “Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved, if it is, stop worrying!” To decide if a goal is worth the risks, you would have to know why you want to do it. The goal itself is usually not tied to our desire. The purpose of the goal is what moves us!

Goals help us stay focused on results rather than just activity. Our purpose allows us to visualize the achievement of our goals.

Goals provide direction. Purpose provides energy, desire, and drive to overcome obstacles. 

Goals align our attention (focus) with our intention (purpose) creating a laser-like focus on what really matters most in life.

If you took my suggestion last week and wrote down your goals, now review them and ask yourself, “why?”. Ask, “why?” over and over until you get to the foundational truth of why you want to achieve those things you’ve written down. That’s what really matters most! Once you know what really matters most to you, you need to focus all your time, energy, and attention to it. Why? Because anything else is a distraction and will stand in your way.

We will talk about this more next week when we talk about Secret #4 of How to Make Next Year the Best Year Ever.