I am constantly amazed and blown away by people who have the ability to think long term– those people who are able to delay gratification for a goal that they know is achievable, yet they cannot see it in sight.

Whether that be training for a marathon, completing medical school, earning a PHD, or building a business or organization.

I spoke to someone who works at Amazon, and he said that their ultimate success is in their long-term thinking: they want to know “can they be the best in 5 years”, not “what is the immediate profit or reward.”

All of the great leaders have been able to stay the course to see things through, to have long-term goals, and remind themselves that it is not about winning each argument or each battle, it is about winning the war and achieving one’s goal.

I have two questions: one, is how do we know when to pivot when our long-term goal is not working out and we may have to take a right or a left turn? Second, is how do we stay on course, and continue to pursue the goal, even– and especially– when we do not want to?

For me, I have learned that the desire or commitment is not always enough. What I must do is take action, which means having a partner or a community of partners to guide me on how to stay the course, as well as point out when it is time to admit I’ve made a mistake, and that its time to shift direction.

I committed to completing the Talmud, which is about a 10-year process, and I knew that if I did not have a study partner, there was no way that I would be able to accomplish the goal. Today, 2.5 years in, we are about 30 percent of the way there, largely because of my commitment to my partner– for not giving up on him, thereby not giving up on myself. This strategy I have applied to fitness, nutrition, and service, all with great success. As far as the second question, for this we need a teacher; an authority that we turn to that guides us, and we must share with them what is going on, and trust in them when they tell us that it is time to pivot, reassess, and try something different.

New Year’s resolutions are truly meaningless without action, in fact, they may be counter-productive, as our brain tells us that once we make the commitment, we have actually accomplished it, whereas in reality, the accomplishment truly lies in the action.

This week, let’s all find a goal to work toward, and find a buddy to accomplish it with.

Accountability, Community, Unconditional Love

Happy new year,

Asher

I want to remind all of you that you can hear more on my podcast, Showing Up. We have lots of amazing shows with interesting guests on a variety of personal development topics. It would be great if you could also rate 5 stars, review and subscribe to the show. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/showing-up-with-asher-gottesman/id1489856285y

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Posted in Thought of the Week