Outgrowing Your Goals - Pivoting vs Quitting
Coffee Thoughts are short reflections on life direction, self-improvement, growth, and loosely formed general ideas that are designed to make you think. Subscribe and receive a new one every Saturday, along with a blog every Wednesday!
So you’ve decided to change your life. You’ve had enough of being wasted potential, and so you’re off to become the person you wish to be.
But somewhere along that journey, you’ve realised that you no longer want the thing you’ve been working so hard for. Do you quit? Is it even quitting? Is this another test of your mental fortitude?
What I will say is that this shouldn’t be surprising. What makes you think that this goal was always going to be what you wanted? Let’s not forget, you set this goal when you were the version of yourself you didn’t want to be.
So, it’s only natural that as you change, so does what you aspire towards.
If you’ve seriously lost the attachment with the goal itself and aren’t just reacting to the difficulty of achieving it, it isn’t quitting: it’s pivoting.
Use what you’ve learned from the goal you no longer want to figure out what you do want. It’s not a waste of time if it gets you closer to something better.
The reasons you no longer wanted it are things to avoid in the next pursuit. They’re even a direction as to what to look for, as often, the opposite of what we hate is what we love.
The truth is, however, it doesn’t really matter what comes next, as that too is more than likely “wrong”.
We like different things, are good at some, love even less, and find ourselves infinitely devoted to a fraction, and if you’re coming from a life you hate, the chances are, you’re way off.
And that’s okay. The goal isn’t to find the perfect goal. It’s to become the best possible version of yourself along the way to finding it.
Even if we feel as though we were born to do one singular thing, the chances of still doing that when you’re 60 are slim. We change, and as we do, so does what we want.
The problem isn’t finding the perfect direction, it’s getting caught up trying to find it. Instead, aim up, and enjoy the adventure.
Choose the best current option that’s available and go after it like a maniac. If it’s still not the one, great, you’re one step closer.
The information you need to make the right choice is hiding behind the action you’re afraid to take.
“If you don’t fuck around, you don’t find out”
So go fuck around!