Questioner: If I make a goal in life then how do I stick to it? How do I keep myself focused towards the goal?
Acharya Prashant: Choose the goal properly. Let the goal be so compelling that the goal itself is a defense against distractions. If you choose a goal that's not worthy enough, it makes no sense to stay concentrated on it. You'll try a lot to concentrate on your goal but you'll find that invariably you get distracted after a while. That's not because the distractions are powerful. That's because your goal is powerless. So, the goal has to be right.
Don't talk so much about how you get distracted. Talk about how, first of all, you have made something into your goal. How has something become your target? How have you come to desire something? If your goal-setting process is influenced from the outside, then your goal would never really be your own goal. And, therefore, you will never feel internally totally committed to it.
You may persuade yourself towards the goal. But that persuasion cannot last long. It cannot have too much strength. You cannot drag a man to run a marathon. No. If he has to run a marathon, then the inspiration has to be internal. Can you imagine a man being dragged to complete a marathon? For how long will you drag him? Most of us running after goals are like that person being dragged.
Is that inspiration really yours? Or are you rushing after a goal because a thousand other people want the same thing? Are you following a trend? Or have you really thought it out? Have you put in time, effort to see whether your inclinations are real or just conditioned?
We do not address these basic questions and therefore we keep struggling with motivation. We say we are demotivated, we are distracted. You are demotivated because your motive itself is unworthy.
What is a worthy motive then? The worthy motive would always have something to do with your current condition. It would either be something that gives you joy or it would be something that gives you liberation. And even these two, after a point you will see, are identical.
It would either be something that gives you unconditional joy, purposeless joy. It is something you can do without getting any reward. If there is something that attracts you this way, then it's fit to be your goal.
And if you are rushing towards something because that something will offer you something in return, then that's a strong indication that you have wrongly chosen your goals. If you say that that particular point, ‘x’ ahead of you is your goal, because upon reaching ‘x’ you will be rewarded with money or career or prestige, then chances are you will not be able to sustain your motivation for long.
Whereas, if you are doing something just for the unadulterated pleasure of doing it—you don't want something in return, the doing is the return. You're not saying, “I'll get something after being successful.” You are saying the very process of doing that thing is the bliss, the return, the reward,—then you will never be distracted.
And the other thing I said is that you will stay with your goal if your goal liberates you. Identify where you are in bondage. Challenge that bondage and if challenging that bondage is your goal, then again you will stay committed. You will not be distracted.
These two things you must find out. Does your goal offer you unconditional joy? You understand 'unconditional'? You're not saying, “I'll be happy only after receiving the returns.” You are saying, “Whether I succeed or fail, I will be just happy.” Because just being in this, just being in the journey, just being in the process is so nice. Then you'll stay with this goal. “Congratulations! You have come upon something beautiful.” Or if your goal leads to your freedom and liberation, then again your goal would never dissatisfy you or disinterest you.
