I’m always speaking to the logical thinker, but today is particularly engineering oriented. Today I am actually using lessons from airplane flight to talk to you about how to reach your goals more effectively. My passion is helping people reach the goals and set up the lives they dream of – because I know it’s possible!
We need to begin by identifying the forces involved in an airplane flying. These are the weight of the airplane, the thrust from the engines, the lift coming from the wings, and the drag from the resistive forces. Since the weight itself is inherent in the plane, I’m going to focus on the other three today. These three aspects of flight are also at play in your ability to eventually reach your goals, and you can affect these forces to have an impact. The better you are at affecting these, the more efficiently, effectively, and successfully you’ll reach those goals.
Let’s first talk about thrust – thrust is that power that comes from the engines that moves the plane forward. For us in reaching our goals, thrust is our actions! It might be the way we are thinking, it might be the things we’re doing, but it’s the self-generated actions that move you toward that goal. The actions you need to take are based on where you want to go. First you take time to create a plan, and a plan is great, but in order to actually get off the ground, the plane needs to be firing its engines. You need to be taking those actions from a stop, and it’s hard because at first the weight feels heavy to get moving – but that’s what is actually going to get you started down the runway. Think about these questions if you have a specific goal in mind: What are those actions that you need to be taking daily or weekly or monthly to help move yourself in the direction of your destination?
The second component I want to talk about is lift. This is the wind beneath the wings, what brings the plane upward. I equate this with the things the buoy us, the things that inspire and motivate us along our journey. This is important! It’s hard to keep putting forth effort when you don’t feel inspired. Instead of just pushing harder, I recommend that you look for more sources of motivation and inspiration around you. Find something that’s helpful. Find a community or a resource, a podcast, or a place to go and learn, that is going to help keep you motivated and inspired.
With this being said, remember that you can’t get somewhere solely from motivation and inspiration. I notice some people who have a plan, and they seek out motivation and inspiration, but there’s no thrust. They are not taking the action that actually allows those forces to do anything for them. Without the movement you can’t have a resulting lift. A kite can just catch the wind and get a lift but you can’t really control where it goes, it doesn’t really go anywhere that it decides. So lift is the second one, and you can ask yourself how you can do that in a way that will keep you motivated and inspired toward that big goal you want to achieve.
The third force I want to talk about is drag. These are the resistive forces. For us it could be the people around us who are negative or doing the opposite of our goal – these make it harder for us. It could also be our environment. Or it could be our own self talk, it could be that we’re entertaining thoughts that are creating resistance within us! For your goal, take some time to think about what it is that you feel like is working against your efforts. We can put forth thrust but if the drag is too high we’re not going to go anywhere. It’s important to balance all of these forces.
It’s up to us to find that balance. Am I taking the actions needed to propel me? Am I properly inspiring and motivating myself so I feel buoyed and my goal feels possible? Am I seeking to lower the forces of drag, whether they are internal or external?
Taking some time to think about these things will really help you. I’d love hear about the insights you have! Please share this with anyone you think would benefit from it.
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