Ever heard someone say, “How am I supposed to get ahead in this world if _______ ?” I heard this recently and thought to myself, “What are you trying to get ahead of? Are you trying to get ahead of your co-workers? Your friends? Neighbors? What’s the purpose?
There’s this thought that if you can just get ahead, just get that promotion, just move up, just make more, that your life will work out the way you envision. I’ve had these same thoughts many times. Here’s the funny thing though, we’ve gotten promotions, raises and blessings several times but it doesn’t ever seem to be the getting ahead that we were envisioning. Things don’t end up being solved or falling into place the way they were supposed to. Why is that?
- We aren’t setting a measurable goal. “Getting ahead” is so vague. It’s good to have dreams and goals for your career and your life but there’s no way of knowing that you attained them and feeling that sense of accomplishment if you don’t have something to measure them by.
- We don’t have a plan for once we reach that goal. I grit my teeth when I think back on all the times we’ve gotten raises and just soaked up the extra money into our lifestyle. It could have benefited us if we had used it properly – living off what we already made and saving the raise amount. This is a huge reason why it never feels like we’re getting ahead. If you want to get ahead then your lifestyle must remain the same (or decrease) as your income increases. Your income and lifestyle cannot move ahead at the same rate if your goal is to get ahead of things.
- We are mistaking what we actually want. What I actually want is not to be wealthy or even live a luxury lifestyle. As I put some thought into the mindset of getting ahead it occurred to me that most people are subconsciously referring to the desire for recognition and the need for peace of mind. For most people, if they had these two things then they would feel like they were ahead.
The deception in getting ahead is that it will make you happier and it can but only if you have a plan to make it that way. Simply getting a promotion won’t get you ahead of anything. Having a plan set in place with measurable goals will not only give you a sense of accomplishment but will tangibly be thrusting you ahead.
Why I do what I do ~ Right now Chloe is sitting near me “doing the computer, just like you.” We just bought a new mouse for our computer so I gave her the old one. Best toy ever.
photo credit: Team Traveller
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