“You got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, And know when to run.” ~Kenny Rogers
The above quote is actually lyrics off the soundtrack from the movie, The Gambler, starring Kenny Rogers who passed away back in March of 2020.
Those lyrics make a whole lot of sense if you’re a gambler and you play cards for a living, but what about when it comes to achieving your goals and dreams?
After all, we are now creeping up on the half-way mark of the year and a whole lot of New Years Resolutions have come and gone. Some of us are creeping up on the half-way mark in life and we have put off the big, life-altering goals that they have talked about for the past 5, 10, or 20 years but never even took a chance to achieve.
You, Your Goals & Dreams
When is the last time you really sat down and evaluated your goals? And not just the New Years Goals, but the life goals?
If you did, would you say you’re on track? Are you where you want to be? Are you accomplishing your goals? Are you actioning your dreams?
If you ‘re not where you want to be, let me take a different approach…
Is it time to let go?
A Dream That Goes On Forever
In some ways, having a dream is just another way of saying you have a goal, a big, audacious, possibly life-altering…goal!
In my experience of working with folks for some decades, I have come to the realization that some folks get attached to a dream.
Maybe it is to start a business, change careers, become an entrepreneur, travel the world, write a book, or grab the helm of the family business.
However, they never execute on the dream, because they are petrified of failing. So they either self-sabotage (place self-imposed obstacles in their path, or they have a never-ending line of excuses as to why it’s just not the right time to take action.
To them, it is better to have a dream that they never realize, than to risk losing it and accepting the failure.
Sometimes it is better to just…let it go!
You Mean Quit?
I know what you’re thinking, if I drop one of my goals or give up on my dreams, that means I’m giving up, quitting, folding like a cheap suit, laying down, and rolling over!
No, I’m not saying to give up or quit, I’m asking you to recalibrate your goals or dreams (dreams = big goals) and ask do a little soul-searching.
5 Questions to Recalibrate Your Goals:
- Are the goals that I am not achieving still meaningful or is it my ego, that won’t let go?
- Must I accomplish this goal in order to get to the end of my year and feel complete? End of my life?
- Can I walk away from any of them knowing they do not authentically reflect who I am or what I really need to feel significant?
- Will I actually feel relief if I let one or two them go?
- Do I need to let go or do I need to recommit to achieving it? (This is a tricky one, be realistic and look at your history, if it has been going on for years you probably need to let it go)
Over Achievers
You see, sometimes we can get a little over zealous with our goals. We compare ourselves to others and feel like we are less than, so we make a list of 37 goals in our business life and 27 more to accomplish in our personal life and we never complete the list.
Yes, of course we all want to be successful!
But, wouldn’t it be better to focus on the 2 or 3 really important goals, instead of getting frustrated because we didn’t accomplish the list of the 64 less important ones?
Sometimes Less is More.
Maybe this blog is about you removing, recalibrating, and/or recommitting to what you really need to accomplish, what really matters in your life?
Sometimes you have to stop and take a long hard look to make sure your goals and dreams are not your mother’s or your father’s or some celebrity’s and that they are originating from your true self.
This might just might be the perfect time to recalibrate and refocus your time, energy, and resources towards goals and dreams that ignite the fire in you instead of sub-consciously dousing your flames.
So how do you know if it is time to walk away from a goal or a dream? Below are a few clues.
5 Clues That It Might Be Time To Walk Away:
- It has been a constant on your list annually for the past 5 or more years and you haven’t even come close to achieving it.
- You wrote it down, didn’t share it with anybody, and every time you think about it, you get anxious or feel an inordinate amount of pressure to achieve it, mainly because of what others will think of you if you do or if you don’t.
- You wrote it down, you’ve told everyone about it, and you still haven’t gotten any closer to achieving it, in fact, you are now further away than ever!
- You keep it on the list because you really don’t know what you want to achieve or what would make you feel like you’ve really accomplished something in life.
- You come to the conclusion that A.) The truth is you don’t care if you achieve that goal B.) The truth is you were only doing it to because someone else said you should (in other words it isn’t your goal C.)
If you’ve answered yes to 2 or more of the above, maybe, you need to let it go.
Final Thought:
As the song goes, “Now every gambler knows, the secret of survivin,’ is knowin’ what to throw away, and knowin’ what to keep”
When it comes to achieving your goals, why would you gamble away your precious time and resources on a goal that isn’t yours?
Maybe it is time to find goals and dreams that are really yours?
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