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Limited By How

 


Do you ever let “how” diminish your “what” and your “why”? This is certainly a shortcoming of mine. I like to have a game plan and a strategy. I like to plot how I will accomplish a given goal or objective. While I believe being a planner is overall a good quality, it does have an inherent weakness.

If I shift focus from “what” and “why” to “how” too quickly, I neglect to fully internalize why a goal or target is meaningful and important. Furthermore, I do not give myself time to clarify the “what” and identify what the target even looks like. When this occurs, the doubts start rolling in shortly thereafter.

Instead of looking for ways to accomplish what I am setting out to do, I begin dwelling on all the circumstances that might prevent me from reaching my goal. I start fixating on all the ways my plans will not work, or what I cannot do, instead of what I can do to achieve them.

While trouble-shooting plans and thinking through possible roadblocks that must be circumvented is certainly important, if I begin that process prematurely, I start diminishing my “why” and “what” before I even begin the “how.” I end up short-changing my goals at the outset. I let practicality and pragmatism limit my thinking and justify it as being “realistic.”

“How” is vitally important. Without it, the “what” and “why” are just dreams and wishes. But be careful to not jump to “how” too quickly. Dream a little. Imagine “what if” for a while. Let your “why” and the “what” sink in a little before you go to “how.”

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