Often we resist our most important objectives.
I remember working with a woman once who was always late for work. She was a talented employee with great ideas and intelligence, but because she could not get to work on time, her reputation suffered. Her most important objective at the time was getting to work on time.
Many of us resist our most important objectives, and I am wondering why that is true. Her are some ideas.
Lack of support
Sometimes we may resist our most important objectives because we have not sought good support for those objectives. We may be so embarrassed about a shortcoming or missed goal, that we don't want to seek the support we need. A while back, I had an objective that I was mostly avoiding. Then that objective became a critical issue in my life. I finally sought the support needed, and with that support, I made great strides with the objective. I didn't seek the support earlier because I didn't want to invest the time or money, and I had some prejudices about that type of support. In hindsight, it's too bad that I didn't get that support earlier.
Lack of acknowledgement
Many of us resist our most important objectives because we don't acknowledge the importance of those goals. We are able to bury those needs beneath many less important tasks and objectives rather than deal with them. You have to stare your most important objectives in the face, acknowledge the importance of those objectives, and make a plan to deal with them.
Lack of belief in ourselves
Sometimes, particularly with long ignored and needed objectives, we lack the belief that we can achieve those objectives. Our lack of confidence in ourselves and our beliefs in old narratives about ourselves prevent us from achieving those objectives. We have to rewrite the narratives about ourselves and build confidence with positive self talk and thought to achieve these most important objectives.
Lack of research
To not achieve long held, valuable objectives is often due to a lack of investment in the research needed to achieve those goals. To understand those objectives with detail is a great way to move towards achieving sucess in those areas.
Lack of time-on-task
Almost every objective is best achieved with the time-on-task it takes time to achieve great things. Calculate how much time you spend on your most needed, but avoided, goals. You'll likely find that you don't spend much time on those goals at all. What you do is what you become. The more hours you spend on a task, the more likely you'll be able to succeed at that task. In many ways, achieving your objectives is that simple.
As for my colleague who was often late for work, she did achieve her goal of arriving at work in a timely fashion. I suspect that this was due in part to the great support she had by way of personal connections and leadership as well as her desire to achieve that goal. Once she achieved that goal, all of her other shining characteristics and strengths were much more evident for all too see.
We all have to seek ways to achieve our most needed objectives, and typically those objectives are the most challenging too. I believe the constructs above will help you get there. Do you agree?