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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

A Tough Line To Recognize

What strategies work best to help you avoid becoming inflexible in pursuit of your goals? 

Funny how the line between discipline and rigidity is clear when I look at the approach others take toward their goals. I suspect I'm not alone occasionally describing others as "anal" or using pejoratives like "gym rat", "fanatic", etc.

But that same line gets muddy when this goal-oriented blogger stops to examine his own approach. Nearly everyone would agree that the best way to get accomplished at something is via practice. But I sometimes struggle knowing clearly when one of my practices has begun to interfere with moments, with joy, with spontaneity. Sound familiar to any other goal-oriented folks?

I'm not planning to abandon my goal orientation. But erring more on the side of flexibility does strike me as a worthwhile endeavor. I welcome your ideas on getting better at that. 


5 comments:

  1. How about if the practice brings you joy? For me, it doesn't have to be one or the other but rather both.

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    1. Ines; Thanks for the comment. This is an instance when I'm reflecting on getting more balance. My practices - like yours - do give me joy. On the other hand, sometimes the goals I establish related to those practices can impinge on the joy.

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  2. I think I understand. You seem to be more goal oriented than me. Just pondering the subject would appear to help.

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  3. Interesting subject. I tend to be someone who is easily distracted and, as a result, put more pressure on getting started, much less disciplined towards achieving goals. Don't get me wrong .. I do, eventually, start, but with some things it does take some time. Thankfully once I get going it feels good and I continue. For other things, some of which you and I have discussed, it's more of knowing what to practice that takes its toll. But it is improving and I remain confident.

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    1. Anonymous; Thanks for the revealing comment. I'm sure your "improvement" (final sentence) in this domain is encouraging to you. That encouragement alone will assist you in continuing to move forward and "improving" even more. Aim for those tiny victories. In my experience, the bigger ones often follow.

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