Embrace Infinity (& Beyond) | A Game-changing Mindset Shift
How many times have you finally decided to get your life together?
Maybe, you’ve sat down with pen and paper to start. Or, maybe you’ve taken a morning to sneak away to the coffee shop and do some deeply introspective work. You’ve visualized the life that you eventually want to live, pictured the memories you’ll eventually make, the items you’ll eventually own, etc. Then you start frantically writing down your goals. Then, maybe you even start reverse-engineering the steps you need to take to accomplish them…It’s glorious and you feel like you’re on top of the world as you leave the coffee shop in a caffeinated euphoria!
Fast forward three days...Your inspiration-filled planner is in the backseat of your car or tucked under that unsorted stack of mail, your goals are all but forgotten, and you’ve slipped back into the depressing comfort of your existing routines. All without making a single step toward your desired future state...
Sound familiar?
I’ve experienced this far too often and it’s not been until a particularly powerful mindset shift that I’ve started making progress in overcoming this frustrating cycle.
Now, I’ve been fortunate enough to have the work ethic needed to make significant strides in my personal and professional life, but there are still areas where I definitely feel the need to level up. For instance, I simply MUST get in shape, the best shape I’ve ever been in. My future and my family deserve it. I MUST continue to grow in my ability to help people transform their lives, my purpose and my mission depend on it.
It’s with these two missions in mind that I sat down to write this article today.
See, common knowledge and the world full of coaches, educators, and know-it-alls out there have shared a way to progress that works for them, but it hasn’t worked for me. Goals stress me out, I feel like a failure every single day that passes without attaining them, and then when I don’t have specific goals to work towards, I’m stressed and feel unmoored from my future.
That is until I began to put together the framework for an “Infinite Mindset.”
Enter the Infinite Mindset…
The Infinite Mindset is one that focuses on moving beyond short bursts of effort on something like goals. Instead, the idea is to focus on the need to embrace “infinity” by, essentially, removing the finish line and enjoying the journey without focusing on an ending. Perhaps the easiest way to describe it is this - there are two types of games in the world and we all play them. The first is the finite game and the second is the infinite game.
The finite game is one with clear winners and losers, a defined set of rules, defined descriptions of success and failure, and a definite beginning and ending time.
The infinite game is one with no clear picture of who is on your team and who isn’t, you have to define your own rules, success, and failure, and there’s no definite end other than physical death.
The Problems Begin...
...when we approach components of our lives that belong in the “infinite” as though they are finite. This is typically how goal-setting works...it’s applying a finite rationale to some component of your future desired state...it makes it a bit easier to understand, but not necessarily easier to accomplish.
We have to wrap our minds around this “infinite game” paradigm and begin establishing its power within our current environment and endeavors. But, what does that look like?
Well, like most of my articles, this is the point when I start asking YOU questions.
What’s your future desired state? Can you clearly define your “success” and all of the players that might potentially fight against your goal?
When we start doing this, it becomes easier to see that most of our goals aren’t actually finite in their nature at all. They are infinite.
Take one of mine, for instance, getting into the best shape of my life...At first glance, it should be an easy equation, right? Avoid carbs or calories, exercise frequently, continue for long enough, and presto! Fitness! But, if I really start picking apart my barriers, I find that they can come in the form of:
A hectic schedule
Well-meaning friends
Internal pressures
Peer pressures
Hidden calories/carbs in foods
Injuries
Lack of willpower
Lack of discipline
Misplaced desires
Impatience
Birthday parties
Pizza
Unavoidable gatherings
Life changes
Illness
Etc.
And that’s just what I could think of in the past few seconds! It’s quickly apparent that it would be nearly impossible to quantify exactly all of the potential “enemies” I might face in this weight loss/fitness game, right?
This realization can be applied to nearly any endeavor that you are on. The answer is for us to adopt an infinite approach to our desired future states.
Since we can’t know all of the circumstances, difficulties, changes, challenges, or curves we’re going to face down the road, the most logical, the simplest approach is to develop systems that will get us to that place.
That’s where the changed approach, dropping goals, and focusing on implementing sustainable, daily systems for growth comes into play. For more on that, read the article I published last week and, as always, let me know your thoughts in the comments!