Steve Mura was a Triple-A baseball pitcher. He was starting one night in an away game, but he almost lost before leaving the dugout. Why?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI can never win on this mound,\u201d he told his pitching coach and shook his head. For Mura, the game was already over, and he hadn\u2019t even thrown the first pitch!<\/p>\n
When it comes to making progress towards what really matters in life, there are at least five major myths we need to avoid like quicksand.<\/p>\n
Over the years, I\u2019ve seen these rob countless people of happiness, success, and significance\u2014me included. Have you fallen for any of these?<\/p>\n
Almost 40 percent of people in their twenties achieve their New Year\u2019s resolutions each year, but not even 15 percent<\/a> of those over 50 do\u2014even though they probably have far more resources to do so. Why is that?<\/p>\n My guess is that they\u2019ve also got more failures under their belt and don\u2019t believe they can win. You might be like that too.<\/p>\n Maybe it was a failure in business or marriage, and now you\u2019re doubtful about succeeding again.<\/p>\n Mura\u2019s coach knew better<\/a>. He pushed him to explain why he thought he couldn\u2019t win. Mura said he\u2019d lost there before\u2014the angle of the mound was bad. So the coach asked him about changing his approach.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a difference between \u2018I have not won\u2019 and \u2018I cannot win,\u2019\u201d said Mura\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n If we\u2019ve failed in the past, it does not mean success is out of reach. It just means we have to change our approach.<\/p>\n That starts by challenging the myth. By changing his belief, Mura was able to change the outcome. He went from a limiting belief based on previous bad experience (I can\u2019t win on this mound<\/em>) to an empowering truth (I can win if I change my strategy<\/em>).<\/p>\n And he went on to pitch seven innings with only two hits and no runs.<\/p>\n The trip from Tokyo to Osaka used to take more than six hours by train. It was a bottleneck on business, and executives wanted to reduce the time.<\/p>\n But they didn\u2019t set a safe, easily attained goal. They decided to cut the the trip in half.<\/p>\n The challenge required engineers to scrap conventional solutions and rethink the entire problem. As a result, they came up with the bullet train and revolutionized Japanese transportation.<\/p>\n But they could have played it safe. Nobody likes to lose, so it\u2019s common to set goals well inside our comfort zone.<\/p>\n And let\u2019s be honest. Cutting the trip by 50 percent seemed crazy at the time. But the truth is risky goals are the best goals.<\/p>\n Goal researchers have documented<\/a> a powerful, direct connection between the difficulty of our goals and our performance, satisfaction, enthusiasm, and happiness.<\/p>\n Safe goals just aren\u2019t compelling<\/a>. If we want to win, we need to get beyond our natural urge to play it safe, step outside our comfort zones, and set big, difficult, challenging goals.<\/p>\n One of the reasons we set safe goals is because we\u2019re fearful about failing. But that practically ensures we stay stuck.<\/p>\n What if the transport engineers fell short of their goal and only cut the Tokyo-Osaka trip by 40, 30, or 20 percent? They still would have gained time and created new efficiencies in the marketplace.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re going to be brave enough to set big goals, we must also be brave enough to redefine failure.<\/p>\n Often we think that missing the benchmark means we\u2019ve lost. But that\u2019s only true if we\u2019re measuring the gap. If we measure the gain<\/a>, however, we can see how far we\u2019ve come and what we\u2019ve already won.<\/p>\n Think back to a big goal you\u2019ve set and missed. Maybe it was finishing a book by a certain time or hitting a revenue goal.<\/p>\n Analyzing why you missed the goal is important. When we dig in, we often find ways of improving. But recognizing our progress is also important. And it can keep us motivated to stay on task.<\/p>\n As far as I\u2019m concerned, the only true failure is not trying in the first place.<\/p>\n A lot of people who have dreams never bother to write them down. They\u2019d never build a house or take a serious vacation without blueprints or an itinerary of some sort, but they\u2019ll trust their most significant hopes for the future to memory alone!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re fine with stalling out and never making progress, then that\u2019s a good way to do it. But if you want to make progress this year on your most important goals, you\u2019ve got to write them down.<\/p>\n A study<\/a> by Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University found you\u2019re 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down. Other studies<\/a> back her up.<\/p>\n Part of the benefit comes from engaging our intellect. When we go to the trouble of formulating something we\u2019re engaging more than our desire. We\u2019re also processing, self-checking, and analyzing.<\/p>\n That helps us build resolve around our goals. The longer we intentionally live with our goals the more we can internalize them and make them part of what motivates us.<\/p>\n What if our goals are challenging but vague? I hear people all the time who want big things but are uneasy about dialing it in and getting specific.<\/p>\n Setting narrow, well-defined goals can feel like boxing ourselves in. We like open horizons and lots of options. The narrower the goal, the more restricted we can feel.<\/p>\n But this is counterproductive. If we make our goals narrow enough, we can actually trigger the action we want to accomplish. This is especially helpful with daily habits we want to form\u2014the typical things we set as New Year\u2019s resolutions.<\/p>\n Saying \u201cI\u2019m going to exercise more this year\u201d is a recipe for inaction. But saying \u201cI\u2019m going to run for 30 minutes at the park every weekday morning at 7 a.m.\u201d sets us up to win.<\/p>\n Not only does it remove the guesswork about what kind of exercise, it also tells us exactly where and when we\u2019re going to do it.<\/p>\n The when<\/em> is important. By narrowing down our goal, we create an external cue that triggers action<\/a>. When the clock strikes seven, we know exactly what we\u2019re supposed to be doing.<\/p>\nMyth No. 2: Safe Goals Are The Best Goals<\/h3>\n
Myth No. 3: You Fail if You Fall Short<\/h3>\n
Myth No. 4: Writing Your Goals Is Unnecessary<\/h3>\n
Myth No. 5: Specificity Doesn\u2019t Really Matter<\/h3>\n