Do you have desires? I think its natural for human beings to have these in life. It’s what drives us to do things one way or another. It’s all rooted in a desire or an idea we want for our life.
The problem comes in when life doesn’t always give what you want; it can even fight back and metaphorically slap you in the face. This moment is when we start to let go of our desires as something attainable. It’s when we set our life to autopilot, do what everyone else is doing, and give up. And if you get hit enough times, maybe you convince yourself your life isn’t worth living.
As Veterans and Ambitious Vets, we have a deep desire burning inside our hearts, our inner war cry to live a great life, to live a life worthy of the sacrifice of so many brothers and sisters that didn’t make it home.
So how do we take these desires and get the results? You need first to recognize that it’s not the results that count, but the effort and the journey along the way.
We need to shift our thinking from one where we desire something and expect the result to happen.
The reality is that between our desire and the result lies a gap. It’s this gap where life happens, where failure happens, where growth happens. Where we learn to measure success not by the results we achieve but by the effort we put in it.
Just because you desire something doesn’t mean you are ready. If a ship is in the harbor and you have a desire to board it. That means you need to swim out to it and that means work. It’s going to take being a strong swimmer, tenacity to not give up, to push back against the waves as they hit your face. To adobe a mindset I am committed and not turning back.
This gap is the real work to take you from where you are today, to where you desire to be tomorrow.
In this gap lies limiting beliefs you have of yourself, the narrative you tell yourself why you can’t do something, and the thought you might not be worth it. It’s really all areas of our life that we haven’t dealt with, it’s our marriage, our relationship with our kids, the kind of people we surround ourselves with.
So where do you start? Look for what you’re not dealing with, maybe it’s your health, your relationships, or your career. The stuff we don’t choose to ignore in life is stuff that sits in the shadows of our own minds. It’s that extra baggage that will weigh you down, making that swim to the boat that much harder. It begins with accepting extreme ownership for all the good and the bad in your life.
Do you have secrets that you’re holding and not telling the person that needs to hear them? Start there, it’s more important to just take the first step. It doesn’t matter how big of a first step you take but take it now!
Let’s frame the gap a different way, imagine the gap is a fog that keeps you from seeing clearly the future version of you achieving the results your desire deep in your heart. The fog only lifts when you begin to take steps toward that result. The more your move, taking consistent action, the more the fog clears, and you get to see the result you’re heading for.
The single most important lesson when it comes to achieving your desires is first admitting to yourself you’re not ready for it. Asking questions about what skills, what knowledge, what people do I need to know is the formula for success to achieve your desires worthy of the sacrifice of the ones who didn’t make it home.
Author: Ben Killoy