Could change be this easy? Yes, it could.

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Brian Kight

Setting a goal won’t change anything, but pursuing one will. The goals you choose to pursue change more than the landscape of your life. They change you.

Every goal requires different responses to earn it. Graduating from medical school requires different responses than graduating from Army Ranger School. Taking a new job in a new state requires different responses than staying in the same job.

Each goal you try to accomplish changes you because of the responses it demands from you. Responses you otherwise might not have engaged in: effort you wouldn’t have given, understanding you wouldn’t have gained, situations you wouldn’t have experienced, skills you wouldn’t have built, interactions you wouldn’t have had.

The person who graduates from medical school cannot help but be changed by the experience. The same is true for the person who completes Ranger School. What would happen if, after completing each achievement, the med school grad entered Ranger School and the Ranger grad enrolled in med school?

Trying to graduate from either introduces a whole new playing field that would stimulate, challenge, test, and develop new skills and patterns in their responses. The pursuit of the new goal would change them once again.

Joining a company requires different responses than starting a company. Building an average, acceptable marriage requires different responses than building a strong, loving marriage. Raising disciplined kids requires different responses than raising dependent kids. Winning a championship requires different responses trying to not get fired.

You want to choose goals that bring out the responses that will improve you.

You don’t change yourself by achieving. You change yourself by trying.

Event + Response = Outcome. Do the work.

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