The Three States Of Thinking About Your Goal

When you think about achieving your goals, you’re either thinking about the past, present, or future.  You’re remembering that amazing achievement a few years ago, being thankful for where you’re currently at, or focusing your attention on the big mountain goal that you’ve set for yourself in the future.  Do you know where you spend the most time thinking about your goals?

Past Difficulties

If you’re thinking about your goals in the past, you may be beating yourself up if you fell short.  Perhaps you’re stressed and worried about what may have happened.  You might feel sad or shame as you constantly replay past events.  Maybe there were tough conversations that keep rerunning in your mind that you’re not capable, worthy, smart, or enough.  Psychologically this can take a toll on your mental state.  Living in the past of how you wish it could have gone differently only keeps you stuck and focused on what went wrong instead of what went right.  Remember, there is always a lesson to learn.  Avoid overthinking previous events and what you could have changed.

Past Successes

Thinking about your goals in the past is not all bad.  Since your past also holds evidence and proof that you can achieve amazing things.  Think about what went right in the past and how you had to overcome difficult situations.  Look for the triumphs, success, and how you pushed through tough times.  Build up your belief in yourself that you can do difficult things.  But, you can’t just remain thinking about the past.  If you just continue to just focus on what you have done in the past, you may limit yourself as to what you can do in the future.  You must still allow yourself to dream and think about bigger future goals.

Future

Thinking about your future goals can sometimes feel overwhelming.  You get anxious and worried about what’s to come.  The future unknowns are far from certain.  You can find yourself focusing on the worst case scenarios rather than being excited about the potential of the incredible future possibilities that await you.  You may find yourself overthinking what’s to come.  In doing so, you put a lot of stress and pressure on yourself to try to make sure it all goes perfectly as planned.  Living in the future can sometimes feel like more of a burden than a daydream.  It’s okay to visualize the future and what you want to make happen.  However, bring yourself back to the present moment and focus on what you can do today in order to achieve your goals.

Present

It takes a lot to be physically and mentally present.  Often, your mind finds itself either living in the past or living in the future.  But, being fully present, that takes effort.  Being present means having an awareness about what’s going on around you in the present moment.  But, it also means accepting your past and what has already occurred.  It’s being excited about your future and what’s to come.  It allows you to find joy in the little things and celebrate your small wins.  You’re able to express gratitude for what you have.  Living in the present is when you’re okay with where you are, while believing that more is on its way and coming to you in the future.  Living from this state is where you can find peace instead of the worry of the past and future.

The best place you can live when you’re working to achieve your goals is in the present.  Focus on what you can do today in order get yourself closer to achieving your goal.  Don’t just focus on the past and what has already happened.  You have a lot of life left to live.  Take time each week to reconnect to your goals and dreams in the future.  Visualize what you want to make happen and then come back to the present to take action on it.  Living from where you are now is the only way to get from where you are to where you want to be and that’s to achieve your goal.