Goal ambition and realism collide

When I was a kid I learned to run before I could walk, it remained like this for another 6 months – I could not walk but run like a roadrunner all day long. Why am I saying this; for the simple reason that it is a symbol of my implatience, I have always been impatient and thus my personal ambitions are high. This was the case when I started using the NoLimit app – goal setting app as well. Sky high ambitions related to how much I can proceed immediately with the inevitable result of the crash and burn scenario.

From my previous blogs, you might remember that I defined my goal, found reasons why. Then I set a timeline, defined some of the ending milestones before I started with my current tasks that should get me going on my journey -to become a better me.

Changing my habits

I was about to start exercising four times a week, changing my eating habits, start a series of different tasks related to my family, friends, finances, and career. Like most other overambitious projects this too fell and crashed in my first attempt.

The good thing I learned in my life with the experience of running before I could walk is that you do fall from time to time. It is the inevitable outcome of not fully understanding your limitations. Since I have failed more than a few times I have also learned that there is no point laying there. Get up and get going once more – but learn from your fall so that you do not fall again due to the same fault.

This is where I am standing now, my ambitions drove me to initiate far too many tasks wanting to build my new life way too fast. Instead of saying that it did not work out I keep my goal. But now I have to re do my tasks list so that it better reflects the level I can comply to and thus define a set of tasks I will actually be able to comply to. Do not misunderstand me and think that I will reduce the number of tasks to the level where I do not have to push myself. I have to find a median line between breaking myself down (with the initial tasks list) and not have to push myself at all (the easy way out that will not encompass growth).

Long-term habit improvements

From my years of lecturing in subjects that can be tricky until you catch the underlying philosophy and logic, like financial accounting, I have experienced much in regards to the «learning curve» of people. When your ambitions are synchronized with a realistic understanding of your actual situation than the understanding of our learning curve is essential. When we take on new tasks or increase our focus on current tasks than the perceived effect and result increase rapidly during the first stages. These improved results make us feel great and we can even become unbeatable for a period of time.

My experience is though that reality has its way of pulling us back to earth and mother nature, our progress stops evolving and further development seems difficult at best. This happens when our learning curve flattens, we have developed ourselves to a new higher level of understanding/knowledge and we must implement this as our new level of competence before we can move on. The easiest way of understanding your journey is to go back to PQM and TQM.

Personal Quality Mangement

The basic development strategy of Total Quality Managemen is built on two operations; PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and SDCA (Standardize, Do, Check, Act). The PDCA cycle is the improvement part of your process and when this is completed you defined the improved level as your new standard in life. This is what we call Personal Quality Management put to action in your life. The important thing for you to learn from this is that your journey – to become a better you, will contain both the rapid growth and the feeling of failure. You should remember that strength comes from overcoming the challenges you experience outside of your comfort zone.

With this in mind, I have redefined my tasks and are ready to proceed with my tasks, confident that I will reach my goal. The good thing is that I have received feedback from my closest ones that I am more relaxed and in a better mood, things are moving forward and I do enjoy the improvements I feel – although I know I have a long and winding road ahead of me.

In my country, we move rapidly towards summer holidays now and I wish you all a great and prosperous time, please comment or give me feedback on my blog and of course to the app as well.

My next blog will be about how I use the impacts in the goal tracking app and then I move to the tools we are in the process of implementing.

Enjoy your time, challenge yourself every day. Live prosper – to become a better you.

/Petter