Do you have goals? Things that you want to achieve before you die. Most people do. Good grades and qualifications, a happy family, a well-paying job, a strong and healthy body, a thriving business, a lot of zeroes at the back of your bank account balance. It is easy to select a number of goals, some from the list above, that resonates with you - then set them as your goals. It’s a simple exercise, done by asking yourself: what do you want in your life, x years from now? To be precise, what do you want to enjoy in your life, x years from now?

The more difficult, more important, yet often neglected question is: what do you want to endure in your life, from now to x years later?

Goals are about endurance - choosing the few things that you want to endure. Goals are not about enjoyment - choosing the few (or many) things that you want to enjoy.

Putting this in another way: a goal that doesn’t need any labour or sacrifice or endurance, is not a goal. It is not a goal because if it needs no sacrifice, that means you can already have it right now. Goals are, by definition, painful and laborious, back-breaking and time-consuming.

Ask yourself then: what are you choosing to endure? What do you wish to endure? What do you think are worthy of your endurance? Perhaps these are hard questions to think about - surely harder than what do you wish to enjoy.

So let’s think smaller. For your 2021 new year resolution, ask yourself: in 2021, what are you choosing to endure? In 2021, what do you wish to endure? In 2021, what do you think are worthy of your endurance? Set these as your goals for this new year.