Getting What You Want

Excuse the selfish sounding title, but it’s quite important to know what you want and how to get it - it’s not inherently greedy. When we are actively pursuing our dreams and goals, then we experience, grow, and learn about ourselves and our dreams begin to take better shape. Many of our goals aren’t meant for us to actually accomplish. They may be dreams that initially inspire us, but the experience of actually pursuing those dreams may lead us to the “alternative” routes that bring us where we’re supposed to be. Nothing ever happens when we sit around and wait.

The first thing that anyone and everyone should do is: make your bed in the morning. Making your bed is incredibly simple, but useful. It’s a small task, and starting the day off with one task increases the likelihood of momentum to keep us moving towards the completion of further tasks. It’s also really nice to come back to a neat and organized-looking bed at the end of a long day.

When we think about what we want, we need to realistically look at the route required to get there and ask ourselves if we’re willing to put in the required effort. While I would love to have a perfect beach body with shredded six-pack abs, I simply don’t want to put in the required time to obtain that. Health, of course, is important, but the time necessary to maintain a shredded body is just better used, in my opinion, elsewhere. I would rather spend an hour running 3 or 4 times a week than spend 3 hours a day lifting weights. This allows me time to do a lot of other activities.

Create a list of what is most important. While getting money is great, family time shouldn’t have to suffer as a result. Most children and spouses would rather have quality family time than some extra money for things; but if that’s not the case, then a major overhaul in priorities needs to take effect. Quality time, attention, and care are way more important than entertainment or things. When we make a list of what’s important to us, we can then effectively spread our time out to what matters most.

If we aren’t getting what we want or we feel intimidated to get what we want, then it’s time to work on confidence. Where does confidence grow? It’s through self-respect and actively living to a higher standard. Some days are going to be really tough and overwhelming. However, if we don’t destroy our bodies through excessive drinking or other related harmful, stress-relieving habits, then we’re going to maintain our own self-respect. Hard times come, but they also go. Sometimes, we just need to take things slowly and walk through the trouble, not run. Life and all of its season bring something meaningful.

The secret to success is making sure that what you want is in line with what God wants. When we’re actively getting what God wants, we feel less insecure, jealous and protective. We feel happier and more peaceful because we know we’re pursing the right things. When we move in the direction we’re supposed to go, we’ll be more inclined to want to help others also achieve their goals, as well.

For further related reading, please check out: Happy to Help.