First of all, I wanted to send you my best wishes for the year that has just begun. And at the beginning of this year, it is when many people set goals, both personally and professionally and both individually and collectively. In this sense, I wanted to start the year with this post, to advise you, when setting goals, to bet on what depends on you. I hope you find it useful and keep this idea well in mind to set your goals. In life, it’s critical to learn to distinguish between what’s in your control and what’s not.
- Think about what area you want to improve on. Define what you want to improve, both in your personal and professional life. Instead of setting specific goals, think about the specific areas in which you want to experience better results in the year ahead.
- Think about what depends on you. To achieve better results in the area you have set out to do, the first step is to clearly identify which aspects depend exclusively on you. This can include your actions, your reactions, and your attitude. Reflect on what you can do to positively influence your environment and your goals.
- Focus on it. Once you’ve identified what’s up to you, focus on those areas. Dedicate your energy and resources to improving and controlling those aspects. This will allow you to move forward more effectively and feel more empowered.
- Ignore what doesn’t depend on you. It’s crucial to learn to let go of what’s out of your control. Worrying about these aspects only generates stress and distraction. Focus on what you can change and let go of what you can’t influence, what is out of your control. There are a lot of elements that we cannot control. But fortunately there are also many others that are under our control.
An example of this attitude can be Rafa Nadal, known for his strong mentality and his ability to concentrate on each point. Nadal focused on his game and his strategy, ignoring external factors such as the behavior of the public or the weather conditions. His uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, says that when he was a child he was playing in a championship and his racket broke. Rafa, accustomed to not complaining but only looking at what he could control (his effort, his discipline or his concentration) continued playing as if nothing had happened. Later, when his uncle arrived and realized that he was playing with a broken racket, he told Rafa to change it. To which Rafa agreed, telling him that he had taught him not to complain and to concentrate only on what depended on him. This curious anecdote serves to remind us of the central idea of the post: THINK ONLY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL AND GO FOR IT.
Think about setting your goals with this central idea in mind. Following the simile of sport, for example, instead of setting yourself the goal of winning a certain number of matches or tournaments (it doesn’t depend only on you, because you have rivals, injuries, refereeing or chance that you can’t control), set goals that only depend on you. How many days are you going to train, with what intensity or with what attitude. If you want to lose weight, there are variables that don’t depend on you (your metabolism, for example). Without obsessing over the final results, set your goals on what you can control, how you are going to eat, what exercise you are going to do… and forget the rest. Surely, if you focus on what you should do and forget the rest, the results will come and will be sustainable over time.
And you can also apply this philosophy in the professional and business world or in your personal life. Verify that all your goals are focused on what only depends on you.
I end with a well-known quote of Mahatma Gandhi:
“Satisfaction lies in effort, not in achievement. Full effort is full victory.”
This quote reminds us that true success is not always measured by external results, but by the effort and dedication we put into our actions. By focusing on what’s up to you and giving your maximum effort, you’re already achieving a meaningful victory.
Have a very happy and productive 2025!