Stepping into greatness and out of unhappiness with dynamic goals - Aristotle and Ego Series.
The Dynamic Goal
The answer, of course, is the dynamic goal. What are they? They are goals that you do, not have.
Instead of aiming to have a body like Brad Pitt or Jessica Alba, make it your goal to work out. The act of working out is dynamic. Instead of wanting to be a famous writer, aim to spread your message via your words. Instead of wanting a hot lover, aim instead to love someone.
Can you see that this simple shift is the best thing you can do? There are so many levels to this.
On the level that we are discussing - the search for material success - the dynamic goal means that you are more likely to get what you want. Think about it. If you make it working out your goal, it will be all you want to do, and the hot body will come naturally as a side effect.
This is so empowering and yet so easy to misunderstand that I have to state it again. Don’t make it your goal to have a great body, make every little action you take along the way into your goal.
This also solves a little problem that personal developers have - how do you unite the need for self-acceptance and the goal of growing?
A quick exercise:
Take a moment to list out all your static goals right now. At the end of the article, you can go about changing them into dynamic goals. Don’t throw away your static goals, though, for they are still helpful in a way - as milestones that you can reward yourself for, perhaps - but always make sure there is a dynamic goal behind them.
What is greatness
Back to material success: What is greatness? What is a great goal and what is required to reach greatness? A series of “small” steps. We’ve already discussed getting a hot body. Let’s go into something bigger - building a Fortune 500 company.
Does a company like that come in one move? No. It is composed of a series of actions that make up something we call great.
Let’s break down the creation of a billion-dollar-a-year company:
1) Create product
2) Sell millions of it
3) Etc…
Let’s break down the creation of a product:
1) Brainstorm
2) Design
3) Manufacture
4) Etc…
Let’s break down the brainstorming process:
1) Organise for designers to get together
2) Organise meeting room
3) Etc…
You know what we are breaking down now:
1) Call first designer
2) Call second designer
3) Etc…
If we want to, we can even break that further down. Picking up the phone. Pressing a number. Pressing a second number.
But I hope it shows what goes into achieving any goal. It makes sense that to reach a great goal, all the actions along the way have to be performed greatly. A series of mediocre actions make a mediocre result. A mediocre carpenter will make a mediocre bookshelf. A great carpenter, doing his job half-heartedly, will also make a mediocre bookshelf.
So, how do we make each action great? If we see each action as our primary goal, or even better, our life purpose, is that not the way to do everything to the best of our ability?
Everything will fall into place as best as they can if you make even calling a designer into your life purpose. It all spreads across like a virus. A good call makes a happy designer. A happy designer makes a productive meeting. A productive meeting makes a good design. And so on. For the metaphysically minded, the vibrations you send out will also flow into each action you perform, increasing the quality even if there is no obvious external effect.
Am I being too harsh?
Do we have to break down our goals in such fine detail? No. It’s easy to remember - whatever you are doing right now is your goal.
Your goal is to sit at the computer and read because that’s what you are doing. By treating the reading of this article as your primary goal, you are absorbing and critically analysing as best as you can.
The phone rings; you pick it up. That is now your goal. If you do so, you are doing the best you can in that moment. And so it all adds up until you achieve greatness.
This is what many of the great spiritual texts are teaching us: Now is the only time we have. Life isn’t simply happening now, it is Now. If you’re not friendly to Now, you are not friendly to Life, and how can you beat such an enemy?
If you are thinking, “I will do my best in the future, when this and that has happened, or when I find something that I love to do”, think about this: when the future arrives, it is already Now. If you can grasp this idea, that is the end to all the procrastination, concentration, and time management seminars and books.
When, and how, are you going to find something you love to do? The Science of Getting Rich
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15 Comments , Comment or Ping
Hannah
I’m just so unhappy. I’ve worked and waited my whole life to get friends and a life partner, and have neither. I am a nice person, fun, even independent, though it doesn’t sound like it from this.
May 20th, 2007
Albert
Hi Hannah…did the post help? There is no unhappiness in being alone? Can you try implementing that concept? Maybe if you tried the ego post, it would help. Please give it a shot and let me know how you go.
May 20th, 2007
Hannah
I can’t find that part. There is plenty of unhappiness in being alone! Sure, it’s great if it’s not true. If you’ve got someone to come home to when you wish to.
May 23rd, 2007
Albert
Hannah, if I may suggest a few things:
1) being with someone doesn’t necessarily make you happier, in fact if you are pinning all your hopes on them, hoping that they will make you happy then it is far easier to get hurt. Nobody is perfect, and even the most sweet, understanding man cannot necessarily love you the way you want to be loved. So if you are looking for a man to take away your unhappiness you’re bound to get hurt…i’m not saying that to be mean…but when you look for a partner to take away your unhappiness, then it’s not true love, it’s more a clinginess or neediness, and that almost never ends up good. So if you go out and develop your social skills and find a man, which you can do, it won’t really matter anyway - the clinginess (which isn’t wrong by the way, 99% of people are like thaT) just means that any relationship will be full of ups and downs.
2) So the best way is to be happy alone. Few ways to do this - go out and find a passion, so that you almost have no time for a man, and that you love having time to do those things. Once you have a great life and are happy on your own, a lover will be more “icing on the cake”. And paradoxically you’ll be way more attractive to any potentials.
3) Another way to be happy alone is to give yourself the love that you are looking for. I have been in your shoes before (for many years in fact), so I know what I’m talking about, in the 2 points above as well. I believe in the end, no one can give you the love you want except yourself. The ego post will explain more.
4) I think you’ll probably need to start with the ego post. It is the ego that says you need to be with someone to be happy.. the ego post is here…
http://tinyurl.com/2gqehn
(I used tinyurl.com because my actual URL was too long and looks crap breaking out of the borders, but don’t worry it’s a link to another post on my site, and not some rip off)
Hope it helps, please feel free to leave comments or email me after if you still need clarification after the ego post.
May 23rd, 2007
Kara-Leah Masina
I liked this post, a lot. The concept of happiness lying in the doing resonates with me.
As a yoga teacher, and of course practitioner… I am aware it’s so easy to fall into the desire of trying to ‘do’ the perfect pose… always looking forward to the moment when you’ll finally master it.
But then what?
There is always another variation to take you on…
So then you’ll want to master that…
No, in my practice now, I release my achieving mind and just en-joy BEING in the pase, feeling how it is today, listening to what it has to tell me…
And therein lies happiness…
May 24th, 2007
Mahatma
I’ve just fallen into your blog a couple of days ago, and have been reading it intently since then, thank you for all this effort. i went through a lot of disappointments lately and discovered a lot of what you say true about my ego,my need to be loved, appreciated, noticed etc. but i have a question:
1) How can i find such a passion that will make me love myself. I’m a mother, loved by my husband and kids, happily settled. I read a lot, write, and help people, do charity work, and love it all, but still cant find the feeling of passion where i lose myself in it and love my self with no need for people to see or appreciate me.
2) isnt there a danger that in finding this “passion”my happiness will be attached to it? and i’ll be in the ego game again?
3) if my ego calls me to do ‘Good” but i doubt it wants the appreciation, should i stop the act, or do it?
4) final Q: why do you do all this service on the blog? is it a mission you are willing to spend soo much time on, or is it a business, or both? the reason i ask, is i’d like to understand the person behind the words and relate more to what you say.
thanks
Feb 20th, 2008
Albert
Hey there Mahatma!
Thanks for your kind words. Regarding your questions…
1) I don’t know for sure as that is not my area of expertise, but I have a post half written on it….it’ll be up in a week or so, it might give you some ideas, I hope
2) I wouldn’t worry so much about the ego, it’s not some kind of enemy, it’s just a belief system that has dominated our lives.
3) Nothing wrong with doing good, I think.
4) More on this on my about page, but it’s a mixture of everything - helping others, speeding my own journey, and also an ambition to be a professional blogger. The percentages that make it all up change all the time.
Thanks for the comment!
Feb 21st, 2008
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