A Guide to Uncommon Success Part 2 - Choosing a Goal-đã chuyển đổi

11/20/2020 A Guide to Uncommon Success Part 2 – Choosing a Goal
You are logged in as: Realredpill2019
Search …
A Guide to
Uncommon Success
Part 2 – Choosing a
Goal
from
09:25
https://academyofideas.com/2020/03/guide-to-uncommon-success-part-2-choosing-a-goal/
1/13
VIEW ART IN VIDEO
The following is a transcript of this video.
“For what is most choice worthy for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve.”
Aristotle, Politics
Why should a person strive for success? How we answer this

question will depend on how we define the term. If success is
defined in its
colloquial sense as the acquisition of money, fame, social status or
power, success is at best value neutral. Our life may improve with
more of these
things, but it could also get worse. If success is defined closer to its
dictionary definition, as the ability to achieve a given aim, success
remains value
neutral. We can aim at good things such as improving our
physical health or we can aim at bad things like finding the next hit of a
drug. It is only when success is defined in relation to human
excellence and fulfilment that we open the way for success to become
value positive, for as Tom Morris writes:
“The most fulfilled people are individuals who deli

2/13
ght in their work, whatever it might be, and strive to

do it well.
Privacy - Terms
3/13
They are people who derive rewards from the

intrinsic
may. And they are people who relish the
challenge to pursue excellence in their activities,
as well as in
themselves. The people who attain true success in
their lives are people who enjoy a good measure
of both fulfilment and happiness as they invest
themselves in worthwhile pursuits.”
Tom Morris, True Success
Success as the pursuit of excellence and as a life structured

around activities which bring us joy and imbue our life with meaning, is an
ideal toward which we should all strive. In the remaining videos in this
series we are going to examine a practical approach to attain this value
positive type of success, or what we are calling uncommon success.
This approach can be outlined as follows: choose a bold goal, construct
the daily routines that move us in the direction of our goal, and then
consistently execute on our
routines. Over-and-over again we see this pattern play out in the lives
of the most successful individuals and this pattern is discussed
endlessly in the
success and self-help literature. To save you time we have condensed some
of the best information on each of these steps into a few short
videos.
“Without some goal and some e"ort to reach it no

4/13
man can live.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Prison Life in Siberia

Privacy - Terms
5/13
The first step toward success is the setting of a goal. We need to know
what it
“We must have goals to guide our actions and

energies. . .” writes Tom Morris. “Without a target to
shoot at, our lives are literally aimless. Without
something productive to do, without positive goals
and a purpose, a human being
languishes. And then one of two things happens.
Aimlessness begins to shut a person down in spiritual
lethargy and emptiness, or the individual lashes out
and turns to destructive goals just to make
something
happen.”
Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement
Our goal can be seen as the foundation, or lodestone, around which to re-
pattern our life, so choosing our goal should not be done on a whim. But
we should also recognize that an uncommonly successful life is typically
defined by a succession of goals so we shouldn’t place too much
pressure on
our self thinking that what we choose now must define the
remainder of our future. To help us choose a goal we can
emulate the approach of the already successful and this means
that our goal should meet
the following criteria: first and foremost our goal must be one whose
achievement is primarily the result of activities we find intrinsically
6/13
rewarding, secondly our goal must be ambitious and finally it must be

specific and focused.
Privacy - Terms
7/13
The first of these criteria is perhaps the most important given the
type of
naturally appealing to us and which contains activities that we
enjoy regardless of any external rewards. This is crucial for two reasons.
Firstly, life is uncertain. At any moment we can be derailed in our
pursuit by
events beyond our control and so choosing a goal only for the
rewards it may bring at some unknown point in an uncertain
future is
foolish. Instead we need to find a goal that brings excitement,
enjoyment, and satisfaction to the present. But choosing a goal that
revolves
around intrinsically rewarding activities is crucial for another reason: only
if we enjoy what we do can we expect to accomplish anything of
much worth. For as Ayn Rand puts it, to be successful:
“…you must be the kind of man who can get things

done. But to get things done, you must love the doing,
not the secondary consequences.”
Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
To discover a goal that meets this first criteria it can be helpful to

survey our current skillsets and to reflect on our talents. For it is well
established that
part of what makes work intrinsically rewarding is the ability to do it
well. Too often people set themselves up for failure because they think
they will enjoy a certain pursuit, but because it does not align with their
skills and talents they struggle to gain any proficiency and so give up in
8/13
frustration. If we don’t know what we are good at, or which activities

align with our innate strengths, then we need to experiment with a
variety of pursuits until something clicks.
Privacy - Terms
9/13
When we have discovered a domain that encompasses activities

we
programming, writing, creating music, raising a family, or climbing
mountains, we then need to get specific about what exactly we want to
accomplish. We
need, in other words, to select a goal that
is both ambitious and focused. Choosing an ambitious goal will further
our chances of living an uncommonly successful life for several reasons.
Firstly, a big goal is more inspirational and so will imbue our life with
the hope and excitement that can impel us to begin living in the
uncommon ways that
promote uncommon success.
“One man’s greater morality, in contrast to another’s,

often lies only in the fact that his goals are quantitatively
larger. The other man is pulled down by occupying
himself with small things. . .”
Nietzsche, Human All Too Human
To determine whether our goal is ambitious enough we can ask

ourselves the following question: if we attain our goal will it merely
augment our well-being, or will it radically change us? Unless we can
answer affirmatively with the
latter, our goal is not big enough for the pursuit of uncommon success.
“Well-being as you understand it – that is no goal,
10/
that seems to us an end, a state that soon

makes man
ridiculous and contemptible – that makes his destruction
desirable.” (Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil)
Privacy - Terms
11/
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and
But there is another reason to aim big and this applies to anyone
who is setting career or entrepreneurial-related goals: the bigger the
goal, the less the competition, or as Tim Ferriss explains:
“It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in

the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving
great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of
competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals,
paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-
consuming … The fishing
is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity
of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs
while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is
just less competition for bigger goals …”
Tim Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week
There is one final criteria our goal must obey– we need to make sure
it is focused, specific and that it gives us sufficient clarity as to who it is
we are trying to become. Multiple goals or even a single goal that is too
complex will only add unnecessary complications to our pursuit of
uncommon success, for as a Russian proverb puts it: “If you chase two
rabbits you will not catch either one” (Russian Proverb), or as Orison
Swett Marden writes:
12/
Privacy - Terms
13/
“Every great man has become great, every successful

man
powers to one particular channel.”
Orison Swett Marden
To ensure that our goal is properly focused we should try and write it
out in a single sentence which if read by a third-party would clearly
convey to them what we are trying to do. We should even consider
setting ourselves a
provisional deadline for the accomplishment of our goal as
deadlines for many people are a spur to action. But the more
specific we are in the
formation of our goal the easier it will be for us to move forward as
clarity on one’s destination always increases the chance of arrival.
“An e"ective goal . . .identifies where you want to be,

and, in the process, helps you determine where you
are. It
gives you important information on how to get there,
and it tells you when you have arrived. It unifies your
e"orts and energy. It gives meaning and purpose to
all you do.
And it can finally translate itself into daily activity so
that you are proactive, you are in charge of your
life, you are making happen each day the things that
will enable you to fulfill your [goal].”
14/
Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Eflective People
Privacy - Terms
15/
So let us assume we have a goal that meets the criteria we have

outlined in
its accomplishment? One day at a time – we need systems and routines
that turn our days into the building blocks of an uncommonly
successful
life and this step of the process will be the topic of our next video.
“A goal sometimes seems so far o",” wrote

Earl Nightingale “and our progress often appears to
be so painfully slow that we have a tendency to lose
heart. It
sometimes seems we’ll never make the grade, and we
come close to falling back into old habits, which—
while they may be comfortable now—lead to nowhere.
Well, there’s a way to beat this. It’s been used
successfully by many of the world’s most successful
people, and it’s been advocated by many of our
greatest thinkers. It’s to live
successfully, one day at a time.”
Earl Nightingale, Lead the Field
FURTHER READINGS
Art Used in this Video
16/
Privacy - Terms
17/
Privacy - Terms
18/
Privacy - Terms
19/
Related
A Guide to A Guide to Uncommon A Guide to Uncommon

Uncommon Success Success Part 3 - The Success Part 4 - Cultivating
Part 1 - The Daily Routine the Habits of Success
Psychology of Success
Posted in Membership VideosTagged excellence, psychology, success
Privacy - Terms
20/
Academy of Ideas participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate
advertising
© 2020 Academy of Ideas
21/
22/

A Guide to Uncommon Success Part 2 - Choosing a Goal-đã chuyển đổi

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Guide to Uncommon Success Part 2 - Choosing a Goal-đã chuyển đổi

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

11/20/2020 A Guide to Uncommon Success Part 2 – Choosing a Goal

You are logged in as: Realredpill2019

VIEW ART IN VIDEO

The following is a transcript of this video.

Why should a person strive for success? How we answer this

“The most fulfilled people are individuals who deli

ght in their work, whatever it might be, and strive to

They are people who derive rewards from the

Tom Morris, True Success

Success as the pursuit of excellence and as a life structured

“Without some goal and some e"ort to reach it no

man can live.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Prison Life in Siberia

“We must have goals to guide our actions and

Tom Morris, The Art of Achievement

rewarding, secondly our goal must be ambitious and finally it must be

“…you must be the kind of man who can get things

Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

To discover a goal that meets this first criteria it can be helpful to

frustration. If we don’t know what we are good at, or which activities

When we have discovered a domain that encompasses activities

“One man’s greater morality, in contrast to another’s,

Nietzsche, Human All Too Human

To determine whether our goal is ambitious enough we can ask

“Well-being as you understand it – that is no goal,

that seems to us an end, a state that soon

Nietzsche, Beyond Good and

“It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in

Tim Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week

“Every great man has become great, every successful

Orison Swett Marden

“An e"ective goal . . .identifies where you want to be,

Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Eflective People

So let us assume we have a goal that meets the criteria we have

“A goal sometimes seems so far o",” wrote

Earl Nightingale, Lead the Field

Art Used in this Video

A Guide to A Guide to Uncommon A Guide to Uncommon

Posted in Membership VideosTagged excellence, psychology, success

© 2020 Academy of Ideas

You might also like