How to Get What You Want: Part II

Creating A Game Plan
You cannot realistically accomplish everything that you want to in this life. 

For most of us, there simply are not enough hours in the day to create a powerful career, foster strong relationships with our partners and families, explore our creative outlets, maintain our dream physiques, and live a life of infamy.

It is a tough pill to swallow, but it is an important truth to internalize early. The sooner you realize that accomplishments require focus and dedication, the sooner you can make some difficult choices about what you should actually pour your energy into. This isn’t to say that you can’t have a taste of everything. For some people - that in an of itself is the need. Some people need to live a balanced life. But if you are someone that can’t be happy unless you are, for example, at the top of your field - it is time to start making some tough choices about your priorities now. 

Before I dive into how I was able to make those tough choices for myself, I want to highlight that my approach is simply one of many. This way of thinking has worked for me - but it would also be completely valid to scoff at this advice. Not everything will resonate with everyone, and not everything will work for everyone. I offer my thoughts on a gameplan in hopes that a nugget of information will help someone to achieve something, however large or small.

Ok, so let’s talk game plans. 

I recently spoke about separating wants from needs. Needs are things that you cannot live comfortably without. Figuring out what you need in order to live a fulfilling life is the first step towards creating a game plan to achieve it. You need a clear picture of what you are striving for in order to build a plan to get there. 

I refer to this as being the architect of your own life. Think of it this way - when the Egyptians starting building the pyramids, did they just start stacking rocks in the hope that something magnificent would come out of it? Or did they start their journey with the destination in mind? I love the phrase “random effort gets random results.” In my experience, the quickest and most reliable way to accomplish your goals is to start at the end and work backwards from there, focusing all of your effort on achieving your ultimate goal. 

(Author’s note: Unfortunately, I was not present at the building of the pyramids. The example given above is pure conjecture - but I’d like to think that there was a plan in place for those pyramids. Even if it was extraterrestrial in nature.)

A few years ago, I found myself stuck in my career. I was floundering after my first big entrepreneurial success, and for the first time in a long time, the path before me was not clear. So I took a day to myself and went to spend some time in nature. I brought a notebook, turned off my phone, and sat with my own thoughts for hours. Eventually, when my mind was calm I started writing. I wrote about an ideal future version of myself. I wrote about what kind of career I would have, what my family would look like, and more. I even went as far as drafting how people would feel about me when they spoke to me. I created a very clear picture of who I wanted to be. 

I realized a few things in that exercise. For one, I realized that I did in fact strive for more entrepreneurial success and that I would not be satisfied unless I was creating something commendable. So with my destination (entrepreneurial pursuits) in mind, I thought about what I would need in order to get there. I would need capital, a strong professional network, and a vision. I then thought about what I would have to do to get those things, and created actionable steps for myself. Capital investment can come from a strong professional network, and so I immediately began to put energy into my existing relationships. Knowing that the practice of strengthening my professional relationships would eventually help me achieve the success I wanted made it very easy to prioritize that level of networking. If I was ever torn between something fun and something that could help my future endeavors, I chose the helpful activity every time because I was focused on my final destination. 

Life is a series of choices. In order to make good choices you have to first know yourself. I am the type of person that needs a plan. And so I take the time to figure out where I want to go before devising a plan to get there. If you are anything like me, I advise investing the time in building your dream now, so that your every day choices can serve an idealized future version of you.