Petit à Petit.  Little by little.

As the novelty of new years’ resolutions begin to fade, you may think you’ve signed up for more than you could take on.  Possibly you’re becoming daunted by the escape from your comfort zone, and want to quickly return to where you know is safe, reliable and consistent.  Or maybe the resolution you set out, just isn’t for you.  Perhaps even, you’ve been doing something for awhile now, and can feel that its time is coming to an end.

But why these feelings?

When I’m personally venturing into something I have little knowledge about, doing something new, or begin questioning about my reasons for doing something I ask myself a few crucial questions.  As there are many things to ask yourself, these are my top three questions I get the most value from:

Are you doing this for you? Or are you doing it because of someone else?

I’ve found that if I begin to do something and I don’t seem to enjoy it anymore, its because I’m not doing it for a reason that resonates with me.  It doesn’t raise the same passion I once had.  I’m no longer doing it for me.  Sometimes, I begin to realize I’m doing something because I have a belief that it’s what someone I care about wants me to do.  This creates added pressure, that probably doesn’t even exist in the first place.  It turns a goal into a chore, your heart’s not in it, and you don’t want to let others down.  The amount of time’s this thought has passed through my mind is simply too many to count.  And honestly, it still does at times.  Asking myself who I’m doing it for helps me understand if I want to do it at all.

Which leads into my next question of why.  Why am I doing it?

As Important as it to have a personal goal that resonates with you, its just as important to know why you’re doing it.  What gave you the passion to start in the first place?  Perhaps it was a coach, friend, parent, boss or mentor who sparked something inside of you.  So what was that ‘something’?  Maybe it was a feeling, an event, a motivation or possibility of more.  I’ve had to ask myself this question multiple times.   And every time I’ve come back to where it all began, to why I started in the first place, and where I want my personal development to lead.  This question evaluates my motives, and makes me question how genuine I was to myself when I began the journey of my personal goal.

And the Journey.  Do I have a plan?

Perhaps the only thing missing from your new personal goal is a plan.  Lack of planning can cause stress and have you question yourself.  Maybe more research was needed before you began, or maybe your goal is going to require research throughout the entire process.  A plan for the mechanics of a personal goal is a must in my opinion, especially if its new.  Being prepared for what you’re getting into is important to know, to be able to expect the unexpected, and adapt accordingly.  And as important as having a plan is, its important to be flexible too.  Things change and happen in our lives, and they always will.  Your personal goal may challenge you to take a detour or different direction to achieve your goal.  Perhaps through planning things out, you realize it wasn’t your goal at all, but rather an aspect of the larger whole.

Life is malleable, so we must be as well.  The personal development and growth through a process is what makes our goals worth our time. And the movement forward no matter how big or small, is still forward.  The deciding factor is if your movement forward is intentional in its action.  So Petit à petit it will happen.

Alex Pircer

If you haven’t read 10,000 Hours yet by Phyllis Lane you should check it out! I read this book in my championship habits class and it really put things into perspective for me.  You can click the link here to purchase a copy of this book  10,000 Hours

Also Thank you to Andrea Vallejo for letting me use her beautiful photo from her recent trip to Mexico.