We Are Not Driven, We Are Propelled - How To Achieve Your Goals

By David Samuel

It is very common that we get a goal and have a desire, feeling driven to achieve. Yet we often just drop it and give up. For some people, this is such a common occurrence that their self-esteem deteriorates and they start to feel very discouraged.

This article will explain why we get heated up only to have a quick cool down and never finish the tasks we begin, or achieve our goals.

Desires do not draw us, we are propelled away from pain. The desire to move away from the cause of pain is far more powerful than inspiration can drive us towards something like a nice holiday.

When we have desires and goals, but cannot get motivated, the reason is that the goal is not real. It is what we think we want but not what we really want. Your goal is a distraction, an illusion.

What propels you is what matters.

Very few people are naturally driven.

The rest of us are propelled.

If you want to run your fastest, no matter how well you train for the race, how much you desire to win the gold medal, there is no way you will achieve your truly top speed in any way better than if a man eating tiger is chasing you. That will certainly draw out your absolute maximum and make sure you never give up.

When you move towards something, you are in fact moving away from something else. Missing this fact is why people start but do not finish things. They are moving away from something that is painful rather than towards what they think they want and so the assumed goal is not the real goal.

Many goals and desires are in fact something we think will end a pain or resolve something we fear. We are pushed by ending a pain rather than wanting the goal. This means that we do not really want what we think we want.

Since we are lost in an illusion rather than living in reality, it is totally understandable that you eventually give up on chasing a cloud.

Understanding this, and knowing what is actually propelling you, what your fear and pain really is, will keep you going in the right direction. You will never reach your destination if your road is not clear and you keep looking backwards checking for a phantom that you cannot see.

Why You Give Up

The reason we give up on a goal before we complete it, is that once we have moved far enough away from the cause of pain, it dilutes enough that it cannot propel us any more, so we stop pursuing the goal. Then we think that we gave up and failed.

In fact, we have succeeded in the real goal, that of no longer feeling the pain that we are moving away from.

Find what propels you, what pain you want to end, and focus on the pain more than the goal. You may find a new goal which will be more appropriate to ending your pain and you will have a better chance of success when you know the real reason you want it.

Sometimes, consciously looking at the negative is more powerful than shutting your eyes and mind and ignoring what your subconscious is deeply preoccupied with.

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