Let’s be realistic! That’s not realistic!
What can you realistically achieve in a year? Can you be realistic for a second?
We just love being realistic. Maybe you’re even proud of it.
But what if your realism is hurting you?
Stop being realistic – it’s bad for you
We are so conditioned to be realistic that you don’t even realize how it hinders your success.
Chances are your realism is holding you back.
“Realism is nothing more than a socially accepted form of pessimism”. This is a great quote!
It makes you realize that you’re playing small. We’re all playing small because that’s what we’re taught.
So it becomes second nature and we don’t even think about the consequences if we don’t stop being realistic.
Let’s be realistic for a second, haha. It actually is a socially accepted form of pessimism and it is holding you back.
So what can you do about it?
Ideally, you’ll always set 3 types of goals:
- the minimum you want to achieve (and still be okay)
- a realistic goal
- and your amazing, incredible, scary goal (where you can’t imagine how you could ever achieve it)
What does this mean?
Let’s say you want to make some money.
It could be weight loss or muscle growth, your endurance, your number of followers, the people you help…anything you need.
I’ll use completely random numbers for the example, you can add a zero or two if you like.
So what could your 3 goals look like?
- $10,000 could be the minimum for you (you don’t feel like you failed or wasted your time)
- $18,000 seems like a realistic number to you
- $40,000 is what you’d really like
However, $40,000 seems completely impossible and you have no idea how that could happen.
That’s when we tend to forget about it and stick to the realistic goal.
Don’t do that. You’re supposed to be a visionary here.
Stop your realistic pessimism.
How does this help you?
When we’re being realistic it’s because we don’t want to set ourselves up for failure.
We don’t want to have high expectations because we’d feel disappointed if we don’t reach our goals.
It’s more important to focus on the process and your progress rather than on a specific outcome.
When you don’t reach your goal and feel like a failure, you often ignore how far you’ve come.
A goal is just a number.
There can be many reasons (outside of your control) why you didn’t reach it.
And you’re the one who made up that number in the first place. It’s your journey that matters.
Did you learn new things? Did you consistently show up?
Did you create good habits along the way?
Maybe you met people with a great mindset who inspire you and lift you up? Did you overcome a fear you had?
This all matters more than hitting an arbitrary number. So don’t hold back and allow yourself to go after your big goal.
Use the “3 goals technique” so you have some guidelines along the way.
This doesn’t mean that you will just magically get $40,000.
But it will open your mind to new possibilities.
It will give you more drive because you’re not simply settling for what’s realistic.
You will be more creative and you’ll be willing to do more things that scare you.
And that’s how you grow.
It’s possible that you won’t hit the big goal, but you’re likely to exceed your realistic goal.
To sum it up
You’ll never know how far you can go if you don’t try. Being realistic can hurt your success. Many people realize that they set their goals too low once they hit them – and regret it.
Don’t be reasonable. Stop being realistic.
Give yourself permission to dream bigger.
Let’s be unrealistic for a change! Will you give it a try?
- The Joy Factor: The Secret Ingredient to Crush Your Goals - July 13, 2023
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- Let No One Stop You From Following Your Dreams - August 13, 2022
