The image quote I’m looking at for this article doesn’t have a fancy sunset. It doesn’t have a sunrise for that matter, nor sea nor trees nor sweeping landscapes. There’s a reason for that…
The whole point of me starting my own image quotes was that I liked the pictures I was taking, and having written about personal development for many (many!) years, it seemed a nice way to get the points across.
I’m enjoying doing them, but sometimes I like the make the point with no photo in the background, just to drive home the words. Sometimes the words can be simple, blunt even, but powerful, and this is just such a case.
“You know you can. You’re just choosing not to.”
Let’s break that down into the 2 halves –
You know you can. Well, what do you know you can? I don’t know you, so how am I qualified to be telling you what you can or can’t do? The answer is that I’m not in that position, but you are, and *that’s* the point!
It’s not about what anyone else thinks you can or can’t do, it’s about your own belief. In my case, (and it’s the best one for me to talk about!) I could look at being an astronaut for example, or breaking the world record for the marathon. I can’t do either of those.
I’m too old, and my body is not made in certain ways that would be necessary to do those things. Sometimes physical requirements are a factor, and if we don’t have those requirements and they aren’t things that can be developed through training, then there is little we can do, and it’s a case of accepting it.
Once you dismiss the things you can’t do, and it’s important they are dismissed as fact, not just as theory, then you are left with everything else – everything else that you *can* do!
I can tell you, that’s a big old pile of everything! It varies according to the individual, but in all probability it includes your goals. Your *real* goals too, not the goals you think you should set, but the actual goals that you know deep down are your passions and your joys.
Those goals are more than likely within your capabilities – OR, and this is the key, you have the capability to learn whatever you need to learn, to do whatever work you need to in order too get there.
Deep down you know this to be true, which leads us on to the second half of the quote –
You’re just choosing not to. If you know you are capable of achieving huge goals, or have the ability to learn and work at what’s needed to get there, the obvious question to ask is this – why do you choose not to?
Fear.
The answer is fear. Most people do not pursue their goals, and that’s a choice, because they are scared.
Scared of failing. Scared of what family and friends might say. Scared of it being hard work. Scared of exposing their souls to the world. Scared of the changes it will bring. Scared of how much money it will cost, or giving up financial ‘security.’
That’s quite a list, and even a quick read of the list will have many people nodding in agreement, that these are all good reasons not to pursue a goal.
I could argue that fear is no more than a thought that we choose to believe. How often can we look back in our lives to times we were scared, but then found out something was nowhere near as bad as we’d thought.
That happens far more often than not, but those memories get hidden beneath the new layers of fear we build up, because the fear gives us comfort. It’s comfortable for us to maintain the status quo, using our fears as a permanent excuse.
It’s not comfortable really though, is it? In reality it leads to a constant nagging feeling at the back of our minds that we are deliberately holding ourselves back, that we are not living the life we could be leading, and we know it’s down to us.
Now, it could be that pursuing a goal *doesn’t* work, that it does lead to failure, that it will be hard, that the people around us might be alienated. That could happen, and since it’s a choice whether to push for our goals or not, isn’t it logical that to choose not to try is ok..?
Well, yes, it *is* ok. If that’s the choice you make, then that’s ok, as long as you accept it fully as your choice, and stop blaming it on that big list of excuses!
Personally I recommend going the other way, of course! I recommend that if you continue to ‘choose not to,’ you are doing yourself a disservice. I recommend that you choose to go for whatever it is you desire deep down, because in that same deep down place that houses the desires is the ability to fulfil them.
You might not have the ability at the moment, but you have the ability to learn, which is the same thing with a little time lag!
What’s the worst that can happen? Whatever those worst things might be, as unlikely as they are, even if they do come to pass, you’ll have the knowledge that you went for it, that you won’t have to look back and wonder ‘what if?’
Stop choosing not to. Accept that you ‘can,’ and start. It can be a life changer!
As ever, I’d love to hear what you think – do leave a comment!
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you feel you’d like a hand with the ‘doing’, then watch my free video series covering my 8 step goal achievement formula!
