Today I want to give you the question of all questions, which I asked a dear friend and coachee of mine last Friday in our 1:1 session: “Let’s assume you have reached your ultimate goal. Would you do what you do?”
The question of all questions
Let me elaborate on the question a bit more. Imagine you had a goal that you definitely wanted to achieve. And now you have finally reached that goal. How would your daily routine, habits, and to-dos look like then? What would you do differently compared to today? Or not do anymore? Or even start doing?
How to achieve your goal
If you have the answer(s) from your future self, ask yourself if you are already doing these things today. Perhaps you now say, “No, not yet, because…” (and now an excuse would come as to why it’s not possible yet). What if you started doing these things, that you would do (or not do) in your future, starting from today? What would change in the next days, weeks, and months? My tip: Everything. And you would be well on your way to actually achieving your goal.
Let’s say you had the goal of running a marathon. That’s 43.295 kilometers. And now you have really achieved that goal. How would you train the next day following the run? Would you then start taking the escalator instead of the stairs again or use the car for short distances and maybe go jogging for 10 minutes once a month (of course, only if the weather is nice)? Just as you are doing it now? I assume that when you run a successful marathon, you would continue to run long distances every day. Why? Because you would have created a habit and wouldn’t want to do it any other way. Does that make sense?
What to do next
Then start today to do exactly those things that you would do when reaching your goal. Run instead of drive. Eat healthy and less instead of loading your plate three times. Have fun jogging. And so on. Because what would be the automatic result? You would eventually be able to run the marathon.
Counter-question: Let’s assume you would continue to follow your current routine. What would be the result in the future? It wouldn’t be much different from your previous results. Because your behavior over the past weeks and months has brought you to where you are now. So, that’s not the most useful way to achieve your desired goal.
Think carefully about what your life would look like when you have reached your goal, and then start doing exactly those things (or not doing them). Starting when? NOW.
Enjoy DOING IT.
