But wait, how can a goal be a living thing? A goal has a lifespan, it evolves and changes, and it requires nurturing and care in order to make into the best version of itself. Just like us. Your goals are always shifting and moving based on new information and external factors beyond your control. Even the simplest goals can face unexpected complications, and the more ambitious goals can become exponentially more complex. That’s why being flexible and treating your goals not as a black and white checklist that must be achieved in order on an exact timeline, but rather as a living, breathing thing that requires patience to guide it to fruition, is the most effective way to pursue them. As Rob says, you need to be diligent, but you also need to give yourself a break. Choose a reasonable timeline and allow it to shift as need be. Accomplishing goals is not binary, it’s not pass/fail. It is an ongoing process that requires consistent attention and recrafting as scenarios naturally change over ti

Swinging back and forth from savor to sacrifice can be inescapable for people who are hard workers. When your personal identity is connected to your work ethic and output, and you are driven by success, you know sacrifice. Then, of course, when you have time to relax, it’s only natural to go to the other extreme. In either case, work or play, when you go too hard into one end of the spectrum, the inertia to move back to the other can take a lot of energy. It is balance and harmony that allows one to move from one to the other seamlessly without being disruptive. The other danger with these extremes, devoid of balance, is the very real possibility of getting trapped on one side or the other. Either only working or only enjoying yourself, neither of which is sustainable in the long term. The best way to maintain and grow the best version of yourself is to create that harmony and never move too far to one side for too long.

We all know that we change over time, usually at an imperceptible pace, only noticing when we look back at who we were many years prior and see a stark contrast. We react to changes in external factors and that naturally shapes who we are over time. And it may seem that we don’t have any control over this process, but Rob is here to tell you that you absolutely do. Not only that, taking control over your own evolution is the key to becoming who you ultimately want to be. It is about getting yourself into a constant cycle of experiencing, reflecting, and then implementing changes. Evolution is a process whether you allow it to happen naturally or you take the steps to guide it by applying the knowledge gained from experience. It doesn’t matter if your learnings come from success or failure. When it comes to evolution, both are equally valuable as long as you have the right perspective. Ultimately, proactively guiding your own evolution will grow and expand you into a higher level of existence.