The Law of Purpose: Want to succeed? Start with a primary goal

At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, we often feel that time has flown by and the years are hurried. Taking stock of this year's work and life, I found that I was always busy, but I didn't seem to have much to gain. Many of the plans set at the beginning of the year have not yet been completed, and the success they want is still out of reach. If you have similar confusion, read the American writer Mitch Horowitz's The Law of Purpose.

Why do most people spend their lives in mediocrity, while only a few people can achieve great success? The American writer Mitch Horowitz, after studying the core ideas and philosophical essences of Napoleon Hill, the father of success, found that the door to success is only open to those who have a clear primary goal.

1. We may underestimate the importance of having a clear primary goal

Octavia Butler was born in Sadina, California, in the late 1940s. Despite her poor background, she never gave up her dream of being a writer. Butler once wrote down his goals in a notebook. She predicted that she would become a best-selling author, that each of her books would make it to the best-seller list, that she would help poor black young people go to college, and that she was convinced that she would find a way to achieve her goals.

Later, as she wrote in her goals, Butler became a well-known science fiction writer, and she was also widely praised for her work. In reality, many of us don't have a clear primary goal.

A clear primary goal refers to a passionate, clear and specific goal. As Butler writes, a clear primary goal pours out her passion and single-mindedness, so it can also inject her momentum forward.

The authors argue that vague desires like "I'm going to make a lot of money" and "I'm going to succeed" can't be called a clear primary goal, and it doesn't do much for us to succeed.

The French philosopher Hubbard once said: For a blind sailing ship, all winds are headwinds.

Therefore, only when we have a clear sailing goal can we break through the wind and waves and reach the other side of success.

2. What the heart desires and what others need is the primary goal of good.

There is such a Greek myth:

Dionysus owes King Midas a favor. In return, Dionysus promised the king that he could grant a request he had made. The greedy king wanted everything he touched to turn into gold. At first the king was particularly happy because he had more gold. But soon the king was distressed, because he was hungry and wanted to eat, but his food turned into gold, and even his beloved daughter turned to gold because of his embrace, and the king regretted it.

Why didn't the king who achieved his goal get long-lasting happiness?

It seems that this goal is not good, and a good goal should have two necessary conditions for you to benefit from others.

As the author writes in the book, "In order for your goals to be sincere and enduring, form a positive cycle of morality that benefits everyone who interacts with you."

Shen Teng, the founder of Waterdrop, was in elementary school when he was treated for an injury. In the hospital, Shen Teng saw that many people had lifelong regrets because they had no money for treatment, so he had the original intention of "hoping that Internet insurance would help more people in need".

Now Waterdrop has grown into a public company with a market capitalization of nearly $5 billion. The development and growth of the company is not unrelated to the good primary goal set by Shen Teng at the beginning.

If our goal can only satisfy our own desires and have no benefit to others, and may even harm the interests of others, such a goal, even if it is achieved, may only bring us pain like the gold touched by the king.

Thus, as Murphy's Law says, "Good goals can meet the needs of others while satisfying their own needs."

3. Do these three things, and you can also achieve your primary goals

Any perfect goal, if not put into action, becomes a meaningless empty phrase. How can you achieve your goals?

(1) Write down your goals

Fenwick, the founder of The Science of Mind, came up with a simple trick of spending 4 to 5 weeks documenting every bit of your interest so you can discover what you really want.

Discover your own interests and keep revising them until you have identified a clear overarching goal that will guide your actions. After writing, put your goal in a portable book, read it often, let this goal be deeply implanted in your mind, it will unconsciously motivate you and become your motivation to move forward.

(2) Start immediately and block out interference

Time management instructor Ye Wubin once said: First complete, then perfect.

Sometimes in order to make our plans more perfect, we always want to wait for a better time to start. I wanted to wait and do it, but often waited until the flowers were thanked before it had begun.

So, starting right away and getting started is the first step towards success.

It's not enough to just start, and people who focus on their goals will actively block out distractions.

Dong Qing, the first sister of CCTV, is deeply loved by the audience because of her calm and confident, dignified and generous temperament. She once said in an interview that she had been in the habit of reading for an hour before going to bed every day, no matter how busy she was, never stopping. Maybe you also want to read a book and go to sleep, but as soon as you pick up your phone, you can't put it down. Dong Qing's bedroom has no electronics, and she will not bring her mobile phone into the bedroom.

We can also focus our actions more by actively blocking distractions, such as staying away from gossip, uninstalling some useless and time-wasting mobile phone software, and pushing out some unnecessary socializing.

The secret of "it can't stop me" will help us bravely move forward along the way.

(3) Wisdom persists and never gives up

Napoleon Hill once said that success often comes after a so-called "rational" person decides to give up.

We must stick to our beliefs, even if the night ahead is dark, do not give up lightly, sometimes adjust the goal appropriately, and then stick to it, you may be able to see the dawn of hope.

The author of this book, Mitch Horowitz, continued to write for various magazines on alternative spiritual topics when he wrote his first book. But these small magazines just put them in humble corners, which makes the author very dissatisfied, and he thinks that his work is of high quality and deserves better publicity.

Mickey was distressed by this, and his good friend Mark listened to him and suggested that he write for a better magazine. Next, the author turned his submissions to higher-quality, more recognizable magazines like The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he did so, and he succeeded.

"How big the heart is, how big the stage is."

If we have a beautiful dance posture, but there is nowhere to show, what we have to do is not to give up dancing, but to insist on seeking a bigger stage for ourselves and finding more opportunities to show ourselves.

4. Write at the end

There are many people who aspire to success, but not many people who are really successful. In fact, success is not far away, it may be hidden in what you love.

The French writer Diderot once said: Without purpose, nothing can be done; if the purpose is small, nothing can be done.

At the beginning of the new year, let us set out for success with the big goal of looking up at the stars!