When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. – Confucius
So, I heard you are headed to the other side of the mountain. Have you considered going around it instead of over it?
What does that mean?
To me, this says when the going gets tough, don’t give up. The toughness is a clue that you need to adjust your approach. This is important, as many people will bail out when it gets tough. Like the kid pushing on the door that says “Pull”, all you need is a better strategy.
The quote implies that you should stop, look around and try to figure out why things are going so slowly or so poorly. You should then evaluate the situation and try to come up with a better plan. Then, get back to working towards your goal. Take action and continue to work towards your goal.
Why is consistency important?
When you work towards a goal, it’s easy to get off track, and from there, become discouraged. Keeping a consistent level of effort, instead of fits and spurts, will make the achievement of a goal seem more certain, and seem less distant.
But the biggest thing in accomplishing a goal is to keep after it. Keep your eyes on the prize and do whatever it takes (within moral and legal bounds, of course) to get there. Be consistent. Keep going, get up again and again, and never stop trying until you have achieved your goal.
Where can I apply this in my life?
When you find yourself in a tough spot, unable to move forward towards a goal, that might be a clue that the proper path is to take a step or two backwards and see where the “fork in the road” was, and take the other path.
Ever find yourself there? “Stuck?” Unable to find a way forward. I hope you didn’t give up. I hope you looked around and backed up until you could see a better path forward. You probably do this all the time, choosing alternate routes to work if a road is closed due to an accident. Even school kids do it, if the bully is in the usual hallway, then an alternate route to class is found, right?
So we already do it some of the time, right? The trick is to use it a bit more often until it is our automatic response to a roadblock. That is just a matter of habituation, or making it into a habit. That just takes practice and repetition. So let’s get started on the first iteration, shall we?
Grab some paper and write down a couple of things that have stopped you cold. They can be big things or little things, but they should be goals you wish to achieve, but are now (seemingly) beyond your grasp.
Now, next to each of the interrupted goals, write down what it is that has you blocked. Why can’t you move forward? What is holding you back? How have you tried to go around (or over or under or through) the obstacle? Who have you turned to for assistance? Write the answer to each question next to each goal. Add any notes that help define the difficulties you face.
Now that you have a more precise view of your obstacles, consider the approaches you used up to this point. You have used multiple approaches, right? You didn’t go “one and done” on your goal, did you?
Now you know what you were doing, and have a concept of why it didn’t work. You have examined the obstacle and have some idea about what it is. Now you just need to look around and figure out what your new strategy is.
Take a look at the steps that lead to the difficulty, and see if there is an obvious fork in the road you can back-track to and choose the other side. Also look for other ideas for getting past the obstacle. Had you spent any time in analysis before now? With the information you have developed on your sheet of paper, you may have come up with an idea or two on how to move forward.
The final step is, as always, the most important. You must take action. The quote says to “adjust your action steps” (which presupposes a plan of some sort). So you’ve analyzed and planned, now act. Select something on the list that helps you get past the obstacle and do it right now.
Quitting and complaining are easy, but the rewards are few. Achieving a goal takes time and effort, but the rewards are great. If the going gets tough, look for a more efficient path. If one can be found, adjust your steps. If one cannot be found, adjust your attitude. And take action!
From: Twitter, @philo_quotes
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius140548.html
Photo by Wolftrouble
How then, would you recognize a situation whereyou should quit?
A most excellent question. The trivial answer is that you stop when the reward ceases to be worth the effort. However, we must guard against the ‘sour grapes’ trap, where we say that because something is difficult it obviously isn’t worth trying to get (those grapes, while looking sweet and refreshing, were probably sour, and not worth the effort to attain).
In the end, it’s a personal decision. At some point, it just isn’t worth the effort. Yes, you can push on past the point of value, but again, there is a warning against going too far, lest we become Captain Ahab, going to the ends of the Earth (and a watery grave) trying to get Moby Dick.
It will be a personal decision, with many factors to be considered, including relevance, value, return on your effort, and changing considerations. At one point, I wanted to become a medical doctor, but eventually I changed my mind. Many different things went into the decision, one being another four years of chemistry, but I believe I made the right decision.