Goal Achieving

ohayrachael

DON'T PANIC

You've calculated a destination on your journey to health and wellness: a goal. How should you build your ship to guarantee your safe arrival? It's time to introduce: goal achieving.

**Caution to all new achievers: Do not confuse goal achieving with goal obsessing. For example, the people of Krikkit's obsession with the destroying the universe is not without intervention from His High Judgemental Supremacy. Their ambition is so radical that "you wouldn't necessarily want to share a Galaxy with these guys...[they're] just obsessed." (380) These goals include achieving things you have never done before, or have minimal experience with, in a very short period of time.

In order to prevent obsession goals, you must first master goal achievement. First, consider your goal from all angles. Will there be two grillion casualties? Will you be enveloped in a slo-time continuum? What will happen to your goal achieving on your birthday, times of stress, or if you get hungry? Please account for these small details when considering how long and what strategies you must take to arrive at your destination.

For this blog, I'd like to look at Zaphod Beeblebrox and how he achieves his goals in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He has set his long term goal: to help Mr. Zarniwoop meet the creator of the universe. Beeblebrox mapped out his milestones: becoming a president, cutting his synapsis, and stealing the heart of gold. His small goals are simple and attainable: have an idea to do something.

Beeblebrox has prevented these goals from failing via his cauterized synapsis. In other words, his mode of thinking controls his power to achieve. He is confident in his ability to achieve his ambitions. This confidence ensures his habitual success without much effort. Zaphod Beeblebrox explains to Ford and Trillian that his cauterized synopsis has given him the power to make his ideas a reality.

"I freewheel a lot. I get an idea to do something, and, hey, why not, I do it. I reckon I’ll become President of the Galaxy, and it just happens, it’s easy. I decide to steal this ship. I decide to look for Magrathea, and it all just happens. Yeah, I work out how it can best be done, right, but it always works out." (97)

Fortunately, you do not have to cauterize your synapsis in order to achieve your goals like Beeblebrox. You may find that a change of mind during your health and wellness journey will turn around your success. If you feel you are ready to become a habitual success without radical change, consider the next exercise in goal achieving.

Imagine a health and fitness activity you are already good at, whether it's eating fruit in the morning, walking upstairs, or getting a good night's rest, and incorporate it into your small goals. You may think goal achieving applies to things that are foreign and new, but it also applies to things you have already achieved. The healthy activities you are already achieving are just as important, if not more, than trying new things. These habits will fire up your motivation while you are working to achieve more difficult goals. Make a list of small habits you regularly enjoy, and consider how these contribute to your long term success. If Zaphod Beeblebrox's success comes from his state of mind, then it's time to flip your thinking from obsession to achievement.

Achieve on, health scientists, achieve on!

Sources:
Adams, Douglas. Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Random House US, 2017.