From the desk of Elijah “The Realist”
Subj: Goal setting
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Recently a young reader of Frauds and Liars; asked me a VERY simple question about goal-setting.
“Elijah, what is your process to set and achieve goals?”
This young fellow believes that I set goals when in reality I actually do NOT.
Goals are way too EASY to accomplish and THIS is the #1 BIG reason why *I* NEVER actually set ANY goals… at all:
I DON’T WANT TO ACCOMPLISH ANY GOALS.
When I set a goal I make sure that it is actually impossible for me to ever actually achieve.
I always make my ALL of my goals never-ending.
Like the goal to become the world’s FIRST self-made trillionaire.
It isn’t technically impossible, but it would take me a very very long time.
My only REAL goal with Frauds and Liars; is to be the absolute GREATEST of all time.
If I achieve my ONE and only goal… then what goal have I REALLY actually achieved?
NOTHING!
My seemingly immodest goal can NEVER really end… because “all time” lasts absolutely FOREVER.
My goal drives me each and every single day… but it can REALLY… NEVER actually be fulfilled.
To be much more specific…
My only REAL goal… is REALLY actually just a simple non-goal.
It is what Hitchcock would call a “MacGuffin”.
MacGuffin: an object or device in a movie or a book that serves merely as a trigger for the plot.
Usually the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and thereafter declines in importance. It may reappear at the climax of the story but sometimes is actually forgotten by the end of the story.
My goal can NEVER actually end, but what it can do is drive me to…
WORK HARD… STAY Motivated… and INCREASE the amount of Zero’s in my Bank Account…
Every single damn day that I am actually ALIVE!
A more modest goal, but one that cannot NEVER ever actually REALLY be fulfilled, is to NEVER quit.
I do NOT want the magic to ever end.
A goal to NEVER quit simply serves as a way to KEEP ON continuing the magic.
A goal to NEVER quit could NEVER ever realistically be accomplished in life, it is only in death that it could ever REALLY be achieved and then you will NOT be around to celebrate it with some alcohol, some marijuana weed, or a very simple cigar.
The absolute #1 BEST goals to have… are goals about your legacy.
Legacy goals will be achieved ONLY after you are gone… and all that remains is your word and your life-changing endless work.
Modest goals sound like a GREAT thing to have… but they are REALLY actually NOT.
I have achieved enough goals to learn that achieving your goals… is the absolute WORST thing that YOU could ever do.
When your goal is achieved… then your ENTIRE ride is completely over.
Then where EXACTLY are you?
Homeless… precisely inside of yourself.
The problem of homelessness is NOT that you do NOT have a home, it is that you do NOT have the mere drive to go ANYWHERE completely at all.
The journey of a thousand miles requires that you do NOT ever stay put.
If all that you set are impossible goals… you will ALWAYS be working towards achieving them.
If you ALWAYS set impossible goals… then you will ALWAYS have TONS of work to actually do.
Not having ANY work to do is a fate MUCH worse than death.
Look at the eyes of any man who does NOT work… and you will NOT see any life, you will see the cloudy grey eyes of the actual living walking dead.
My “work” does NOT never ever end.
Look into my eyes… and you will see only eyes of pure green breathing white fire.
This is why it is important to set only very unrealistic goals.
If you set only unrealistic goals…
Then you will NEVER ever get bored…
You will NEVER be without any fire because absolutely NOTHING kills fire more… than contentment from achievement of a VERY simple goal.
Achieving your goal is the EXACT same thing as coming to the FINAL end of your journey.
Unfortunately, the end is almost ALWAYS the very WORST part of the whole ENTIRE ride.
Setting impossibly immodest goals is SO much BETTER than setting very seemingly modest goals.
When you set modest goals and actually achieve them… you are then in a certain place with NO goals.
This is the outright MOST dangerous place that you can ever be in.
If your goal is to make a million dollars… and then you actually go on to REALLY make a million dollars, then what EXACTLY is the very next step?
Usually booze, broads, and drugs.
The EXACT same goal of all people who are currently homeless.
You NEVER want to WAKE UP and NOT have a journey of a thousand miles to start.
You do NOT ever want your journey to end BEFORE you die.
The journey should only end AFTER you die (and hopefully that is just the mere start of another whole BRAND NEW journey).
It is always BETTER to be starting than to be finishing.
EVERYBODY has the energy to START SOMETHING fresh and new, it is very difficult to find the energy to FINISH SOMETHING, and for very GOOD reason … to finish… is to die just a little tiny bit.
I don’t have the energy to end and neither should you.
I have only the energy to begin BRAND NEW things… every single day.
This is why I do NOT ever set ANY realistic goals, I set only impossible goals or never-ending goals.
I am NOT against goal-setting, just make sure that your goals are impossibly BIG and never-ending.
In this way, you will have absolutely unlimited energy AND you can start fresh and totally BRAND NEW every single day.
Here’s a cheers to some NEW beginnings (hear, hear).
Until next time.
Your man,
-Elijah “The Realist”
