Page 140 - Hard Goals
P. 140

Difficult                                                131


            Now that we know our greatest accomplishments require
        effort, learning, and so on, let’s take this exercise one step fur-
        ther. Using those same signifi cant and meaningful accomplish-
        ments, ask yourself these questions:


            •  Did my accomplishments leave me feeling indifferent or
              beaming with pride?
            •  If I felt pride, was it fl eeting, or do I still feel a sense of
              pride months, or even years, later?
            •  Was each accomplishment just a one-time deal, or do I
              feel like I’m a better person (or parent, professional, and
              so on) because of everything I learned and accomplished
              as a result of it?


            Granted, I have studied tens of thousands of people, but even
        if I hadn’t, my own personal experience tells me that my most sig-

        nificant accomplishments left me beaming with pride, even years
        later. I’m also a better person, parent, husband, and CEO for hav-
        ing accomplished every one of my HARD Goals, no matter how

        difficult they were to achieve. But even though a goal was tough,
        a genuine challenge, I don’t feel any regret (like I do about watch-
        ing those Ben Affl eck movies). I feel proud, tough, confi dent, and

        significantly more competent. Am I ever going to run an Olympic
        marathon? Probably not; innate talent does have at least a little
        mediating role to play here. But I will carry my marathon with
        me, slow though it was, every day for the rest of my life.
            I feel pretty confi dent when I say that that you probably
        feel the same way. Because the results of every study we do, the
        responses of every audience I ask, indicate the same thing. It’s
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