Not Giving Up and the True Goal

Yesterday I asked a man with enormous experience a question: “How do I get from point A to point B, when right now the two are barely connected?” His answer was surprisingly simple: “It doesn’t matter how far apart those points are today. If you don’t give up on the way to the goal, events and people will arrange themselves so that the result is reached.”

Retelling his answer to a friend, I caught myself adding, without thinking: “If it’s a true goal, then…” That small correction made me wonder about the reasons people, at some point, “give up” in the face of difficulties in what they do — and either lose the will to go on or abandon the whole thing halfway.

In our current culture of relentless achievement, walking away from a goal mid-way is at times treated like a brand of shame, a sign of being “spineless,” of having no willpower. We’re even inclined to call such people losers.

But what if the real reason is a timely realization that the person was never walking toward their own true goal? Maybe, at times, giving up is the best thing you can do — to stop spending your life on a false path and start looking for yourself in new beginnings.

The problem is made worse by the fact that every day we absorb, from the media and social networks, one-size-fits-all templates of success, the ones that supposedly guarantee a result. But who decided that?

If each person’s true goals are unique, just like their skills and talents, then so are their paths to self-realization. Perhaps, when we find such goals, we simply can’t give up — because of a natural motivation built into us from birth.

Most likely, the reason we see so many “burned-out” people is precisely that they were following goals that weren’t theirs, but ones imposed on them.

I’ve walked into businesses myself because they seemed fashionable or prestigious — and then, once I was deep in, I’d realize how much it “wasn’t me,” and I’d step away, often not without losses. But there’s a part of the search in that too.

Here’s to all of us finding our true goal — and not giving up on the way! 😎