9 Ways to Achieve Any Goal in Life
By: Alberto Guerrero
Tags: Perseverance, Goals, Challenge

I’m 50. That age when most people start thinking about early retirement, taking it easy, and playing golf.

But not me.

I feel as if life hasn’t even started yet. I have more energy, more passion, more thirst, and more drive than ever before. How is this possible?

People keep telling me about how lucky I am to be so healthy and full of life and of course, that’s true. Some get the short straw in life and have to live with crippling conditions or scarcity, unfortunately. But I’m sure I’m not an exception. I’ve never really excelled at anything before, if anything I’ve struggled to be average.

Yesterday, after a training session with spectacular results, I managed to be the fastest in three different Strava segments, and that’s a big deal, at least for me. To be the fastest among 400 people of which some are pros and most are much younger and fitter than me, it’s no easy task. I still don’t know how I managed, but I did.

Apart from that, I’ve managed to achieve some other goals and many more are coming. Now I can play the sax, code in python, speak Japanese and write articles for Medium. 5 years ago, I was unable to do any of that. Granted, I’m not great a any of these tasks but I’m beginning to wonder what if I could? Why not me? And how hard can it be?

Certainly today I’m floating in a cloud of hype after yesterday’s results but I do wonder if all these years in which I achieved nothing were the result of me playing little, being too modest, and lacking confidence.

Anyway, enough of me. This article is about you. You are reading this article to find some value for yourself so here are a few lessons I’ve learned along the way and what I will do differently from now on.

1. Don’t sabotage yourself

Get out of your own way. The only thing that stops you from achieving the results you want, it’s you. Lack of confidence, overwhelm, playing small, and doubt are your only obstacles, get rid of them and the road will be wide open.

2. Don’t be realistic

Society needs useful slaves, that’s why we get brainwashed to become part of the machinery that moves the world. You probably had a dream when you were younger. That was abandoned in pursuit of a more “reasonable” career. No, Jimmy, you can’t be an NBA star, you must find a profession like dentist or marketing assistant. And poor Jimmy became realistic and live a mediocre life ever after.

It’s better to pursue your dreams and fail than chase mediocrity and succeed.

3. Don’t compare yourself to others

We are all different. Our genes, experiences, and background make any comparison useless. When you try something out don’t try to emulate others’ achievements. They might have been doing this for much longer or they might have a natural predisposition to it, so what? If that’s what you love, keep doing it, and eventually, you’ll become really good at it.

It’s impossible to do something for 2 hours a day and not become great at it in 5 years.

4. Be patient

Everything takes time but that’s fine. Don’t be in a rush. Enjoy the process. Don’t look forward, look down. Time is just a delusion created by your mind. You are trapped in the present, there is nothing else than now. Make the most of it.

When you are climbing a mountain you should never look at the top, that’s deceiving. The distance you have to cover is not from here to the top, it’s from here to the next step. Can you do 1 more step? Then you will reach the top. Simple as that.

When I did my first marathon I hit this proverbial wall. It was physical but mostly psychological. Halfway through I started thinking how far the finish line was and how much longer I needed to keep running. I almost quit. But then I twisted the mental framework. I made a decision to run for just 1 more mile and before I knew, it was over.

Anybody can run 1 more mile, by thinking that way you can get to the end of the world. Don’t overwhelm yourself with lofty goals, the way is the destination.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

5. Prove people wrong

When you start a new project you can feel that most people want you to fail. It’s not that they are ill-intentioned, it’s just that they’ve been programmed for mediocrity, and by succeeding you’ll be pushing them into cognitive dissonance.

When you pursue your dream and succeed they run out of excuses and they have to come to terms with the fact that they’ve been playing low for too long.

So, for those moments when your motivation dwindles think of all the people that didn’t believe in you and use them as fuel to push you forward.

Achieve what was impossible and you’ll be an inspiration for the naysayers.

6. Be limitless

Everything was made up by people that were no smarter than you — Steve Jobs

As humans, our abilities and capacities are very similar with few remarkable exceptions. But it’s not the outliers who achieve amazing feats, it’s the people like you and me.

Yes, you most likely won’t be able to go to the Olympics or join mensa but neither could Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Edmund Hillary, or Christopher Columbus. What makes people achieve remarkable goals is sheer determination, not talent. Did you know that most Nobel prize winners have only an average IQ?

Talent, intelligence, and physical ability are overrated. If you have the grit to pursue your goal you’ll beat all those that were favorites at the starting line. The tortoise beats the fox any time.

7. Forget your age

It’s never too late. You don’t know how long you’ve got. Remember 10 years ago when you thought you were too old? Well, you weren’t, and neither you are now.

Time is just an artifice. Don’t measure your goals in years, measure them in energy instead. Do you have enough energy to start doing what you love? You do. That’s the definition of passion. You don’t need motivation to pursue your dream, it comes from within.

Yes, I wish I had started earlier, I wish I had made better decisions and I wish my situation was different but if that’s the price I have to pay to get here so be it. I’m been 20, 30, and 40 and never feel better, with more energy or more capable than now. Age is just a number. I’ll keep pushing until I die and so should you.

8. Stop wasting time

In order to swallow the bitter pill of mediocrity, we indulge in vices that don’t provide satisfaction and destroy our lives. Junk food, TV, alcohol, drugs, etc. I’m not saying you should become a monk, certainly I’m not, but if you do something repeatedly and it doesn’t make you happy, does it make sense to carry on?

To watch some of the Netflix series takes over 100 hours, is there anything more active and more enjoyable you can do with your life? I’m sure there is.

In 100 hours you could learn to play the guitar, learn a language to hold basic conversations, start a side hustle and make money, or become really fit at any sport.

When you say you have no time you are probably lying to yourself. There is plenty of time if we use it wisely. And there is no need to become a productivity robot, it’s enough with making sound decisions on how to allocate 80% of your spare time.

Stop watching tv, stop reading the news, stop browsing social media and you’ll get a second life. Make the most of it.

9. Tame fear

Deep down, the reason you are now living the life you want is fear. Fear of failure, fear of losing face, fear of rejection but mostly fear of success.

Your ego doesn’t want you to win. Victory is scary when you are used to defeat. Being a loser is comfortable and you have plenty of friends to console you, but victory is scary. It’s very lonely at the top, or so it seems. Are you going to let fear stop you?

You’ve got nothing to lose, you are already dead. You a speck of dust compared to humankind, history, planet earth, and the universe. What you’ve got to lose? You might as well take this opportunity called life and use it to its full potential. You don’t want to have any regrets on your deathbed.

Go ask that girl out, dance like nobody is watching, pedal like there was no tomorrow, and follow your dream, your passion, and your destiny. Everything else is fluff.

Enjoy your life.