Don't Let Second Force Knock You Off Course
If success was easy, everyone would be successful.
One of my favorite mentors was Jack Boland. He was a Unity minister in Detroit. I never met the man but enjoyed his teaching by listening to cassette tapes. One of his concepts was second force. He said that when you set a goal, the universe immediately creates a force 90 degrees to your goal to throw you off track. It is a way of seeing how determined you are. You set a goal to lose weight and within minutes someone comes and says, “Would you like a piece of pie?”
I decided to get more serious about my physique goal this year. My wife doesn’t like to cook, but she decided to bake an “egg bake” that would be for breakfasts for a week. It contained eggs, hash browns and sausage. It was delicious. I had lost a couple of pounds and was very encouraged. I had been skipping breakfast. What harm could be done? I ate a little of the egg bake for two days.
Then Mandy decided to make a casserole. That would also last a few days. It too, was delicious. I gained the weight back.
While out for a walk, I mentioned that I was trying to lose weight and found myself suddenly married to Suzie Homemaker. She said, “We could give the rest of the egg bake to the dogs.” I hate to waste food. We make food for our dogs. I decided that was a good idea. Back to my diet.
The point is that by definition being successful means that we achieve our goals. The bigger the goal, the more opposition you will have. There will be many forces to get you off track. You may have to try different paths to your goal. First make sure your goal is really what you want. Why do you want it? Then go for the goal and be flexible in how you achieve it.
Watch your thoughts for second force. What if I achieve my goal and ____ happens? You fill in the blank. It happens to me all the time. Or people call and want my help to achieve their goals. I must decide whose goal is more important, theirs or mine. Often, I have allowed the goals of others to be more important than mine. I enjoy seeing others succeed. That’s what I enjoy about teaching.
Whether it is your business goal or personal development goal, there will be second forces. You must be clear in why you want your goal. If your why is big enough, you will overcome these second forces and may even find that the universe changes in your favor. It is like riding a bicycle to the top of a hill and getting to glide down the other side.