Moving In The Right Direction

Here’s something which you might have had happen to you.

You set out to achieve something, but then constantly feel that something is lacking in your life. Even when the goal is reached, the sense of satisfaction still eludes you. Even worse is when you set a goal but then can’t seem to find the motivation to move towards it. No matter how much you try, there just doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for making progress. Then you start to question why you don’t have any motivation, and maybe begin to think that it’s just because you are lazy or lack drive.

There might be some truth in that, though truly lazy people often are too lazy to even think that they might be lazy. :-) The problem is often not that you are lazy, but simply that the goal isn’t one that you really want to achieve. You might have chosen a goal that someone else wants to achieve.

The problem lies in the fact that you don’t know what you want. Or rather you don’t know what your values are—and therefore can’t choose what you want. Knowing your values is like knowing what kind of food you like. Once you know that, you can choose which restaurant you want to go to. If you don’t know which food you like, you might go to a restaurant that has been recommended to you, but then find that there’s nothing on the menu you want to eat.

Once you know your values you can ignore goals and ambitions which don’t fit in with your values. If you like action and adventure, then setting a goal to pass an exam which will enable you to get a job in a safe but dull office job will be pointless. You simply won’t have the motivation to reach the goal, no matter how much energy and drive you have. Conversely if you like a life of quiet routine, then setting a goal to become a coastguard, a life out on the open sea in all weathers, probably isn’t going to do it for you.

The bottom line is that if you have no idea what you want, it’s no wonder that you don’t have any motivation to achieve anything. Once you find what you want, you’ll find motivation easier to come by.

Knowing what your values are means you can stop striving for things that don’t really matter. It’s a problem for many people, and one which leads nowhere.

As Don Marquis finely put it:

“Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it.”