A critical mistake that high achievers often make with their goals is that they don’t make winning easy. They add more hurdles than necessary, complicate their systems, and create numerous stumbling blocks along the way.
They’ve turned their goals into a form of self-punishment, a constant reminder that they’re not good enough.
And this is precisely why many high achievers struggle to stay consistent with their goals.
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For Purpose or For Punishment?
These self-imposed punishment goals show up in many different ways.
The pictures they avoid taking because they don’t look a certain way. The “goal outfits” left hanging in the closet. The countless projects labeled as failures because they didn’t meet some unreasonable standard.
While these actions can sometimes serve as motivation, they often foster unhealthy relationships with ourselves.
They create negative self-beliefs like: “You’re not fit, yet.” “You’re not pretty, yet.” “You’re not successful, yet.”
The message remains the same, “You’re not good enough, right now.”
But what if we shifted our mindset from failing our way to success to winning often along the way?
The Two Paths to Achieving Your Goals
The journey to achieving your goals can take one of two paths: the Punishment Pathway or the Winner’s Highway.
The Punishment Pathway
On the Punishment Pathway, every milestone is seen as a failure until you finally achieve your ultimate goal.
The mantra on this path is “Suffering is the sentence”.
You focus more on what’s missing and what you lack.
You spend your goal achievement journey concerned about the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
The Winner's Highway
On the Winner’s Highway, each milestone is celebrated as a win, even when you eventually succeed at your goal.
The mantra on this path is “Success is the standard”.
Every step represents an improvement from your previous self. A small change that makes you even more ready to achieve your goal.
You spend your goal achievement journey feeling confident about your ability to succeed. Every step you take gives you even more courage to complete the journey.
Treat Your Goals Like a Video Game
There’s a video game I’ve played so much I’m embarrassed to share how many hours I’ve played. When I first started, I easily won many beginner levels. As the levels got harder, it became harder to win. But I kept playing because I’d racked up so many wins before. Even when it took me months to beat the final level, I had no doubt that I was going to beat it. My confidence had grown so much with every win, that winning became the only option to me.
That’s precisely what the Winner’s Highway can do for you.
The Winner’s Highway shifts your perspective from reminding yourself of your failures, to counting every milestone as a win. From “suffering is the sentence” to “success is the standard”.
When you journey toward your goals while consistently winning along the way, achieving them won’t come as a surprise – it’ll be an expected outcome.
Build a Winner’s Highway for Your Goals
If you want to practice winning more on your goal achievement journey, here’s what to do next:
1) Transform each milestone for your goals into an opportunity to win.
2) Remove as many obstacles as possible from your process, making it simple and achievable.
3) Challenge yourself to eliminate all obstacles from your initial steps; this should feel like playing level 1 of a video game–easy to win.
4) Record every win along the way, boosting your confidence with each achievement.
Don’t make your goals a pathway for your punishment. Make them a superhighway to your success.
If you loved this episode and want me to share more, let me know! Please email me at support(at)desoladavis(dot)com or DM me on Instagram and tell me what you think.
Learn More
- How to Set Goals For Each Product Season
- The One Thing That’s Sabotaging Your Success
- Goal Success Plan (coming soon!)