The CTEDU Blog.

The beauty of the question “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” points us to look at the larger picture of ultimate worth. It invites us to consider projects and programs so grand, the goals seem unattainable, and reality has a way of coming crashing down. The brave, however, choose to pursue at least a lighter version of that ultimate dream, and a little momentum can become super fun. Yet the big, important question comes when setbacks happen, distractions intensify, and your resolve to keep moving forward is tested.

How much do you believe in your dream?

How are those resolutions coming along?

About three weeks into a new routine tends to be the hardest. The initial excitement has worn away. Some unforeseen obstacle or another quick vacation or stumbling blocks has made its presence known. Yet it’s in these moments that your resolution needs to find another form of motivation other than the newness and willpower of a New Year’s energy.

What’s the new source of motivation?

You ride a bike but drive a car. You might get a ride to work, but then you aren’t doing the hard part of driving. You drive a point home, but you ride a wave of emotion or momentum. Riding implies that you’re having fun, engaged in a harmonious way with the elements around you, and you’re going someplace.

How do you create more opportunities to ride in your weeks?

What makes it worth three minutes a day?

Bring to mind something that you’d like to accomplish in the next three months. Maybe it’s something that you’ve fretted about. Life coaching teaches us that perspectives matter, and being in a state of gratitude and optimism about your abilities to do the necessary work makes a big difference. So much of a difference that being in and sustaining a state of gratitude and reaching an optimistic perspective for three minutes might make the difference in your success.

How can you sustain three minutes of gratitude?

What happens on the journey from despair to hope?

Being stuck in a state of hopelessness usually pushes us in both directions at the same time. The first is feeling like shutting down, quitting, and moping. The second is a prompt to grow, meet and rise to the challenge, to learn the lesson sitting right in front of you. The second direction often hides, maybe provides an undertow, or operates in the background, but when it reveals itself, it’s the current that sweeps us back to hope.

How do you have the courage to face despair and see the undercurrent of hope?

What if attaining success were an anti-fragile system?

Some systems suffer or get destroyed with a setback like a glass that breaks when it falls. The broken glass gets swept away, but a plastic cup when it falls just bounces around. It doesn’t break nor is it improved. Now imagine a system where setbacks, challenges, obstacles actually produce benefit, and even further are required for advancement such as an immune system that requires germs to become strong.

What if success actually required set backs?

More on this concept: Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s new book The Coddling of the American Mind

When you’re in the middle of your work day and you’re tackling the impossible project or making headway into a nitty gritty problem, you’re slaying the a dragon. Some people spend inordinate amounts of energy trying to avoid dragons. Some have learned to face them, seek them out. We each do a bit of both. 

What’s your balance? (What would the dragon say?) 

Invisible deadlines whiz past us on a daily basis. It could be the opportunity to reach out and express something important about something that matters. Or maybe it’s the chance to start doing that project that will change your life. Perhaps it’s your ability to hold the silence and the tension to hold on to your patience just a little bit longer and allow the moment to pass.

What would happen if you knew all your life’s most important deadlines? 

[Goal Hack #1]

Start with a goal that you want to achieve. Let’s say it’s writing a novel by June 2019. The next step is to map out the process – the block of time and task to be accomplished – on a calendar. Now it’s time to hack the goal: put the first goal out of your mind and make sticking to the process – doing the disciplined work from your planned start to finish time – as much as your focus as you possibly can. 

What do you notice happens to your productivity?

Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and imagine that it’s January 2029. You’ve just had a beautiful and fulfilling holiday season, and you’re looking forward to an exciting and prosperous new year. 

It’s 2029. How do you party? 

Come and join us for our Future-Self Party Thursday January 3rd from 5-6pm Pacific (8-9pm Eastern).