Let’s say there is a young man whose long-term goal is to become a financial advisor. Unfortunately, his current circumstance is that he has just failed his Series 7 Exam. He should not let his short-term circumstance change his long-term goal. He has decided to become a financial advisor. His objective has not changed. So he has to ask himself what he must change to reach his goal. First, he has to re-take the exam and pass it.
Again, great real world example is Michael Jordan. His goal was to play college basketball and professional basketball, but in his tenth grade season, he got cut from the varsity team. Did he let that short-term circumstance dictate his long-term decision making? Of course not. He worked harder than he ever had before and he made the varsity team the following year. Before long, he was a high school McDonald’s All American player.
Let’s say a young woman wants to become a doctor, but she gets a C in organic chemistry. She needs to get a B or better to get into medical school. What she has to do is simple, retake the course. It may be a set-back, but it’s not the end of the world.
Everyone learns to walk before they can even talk. We do it as babies. We pull ourselves up, usually by a table or wall at first, and then we take a few steps and fall. If everyone stopped trying to walk when they fell, we would all be crawling around instead of walking. Persistence is innate. Before we can even talk, we persist in our attempts at walking until we can do it without thinking. If we kept that attitude as we got older, we would never let minor set-backs dictate our long-term decision making.
I see it much too often where a young person lets a short-term circumstance dictate their long-term goal. The trick is to take yourself out of the moment and focus on your goal. You may have to make some more sacrifices or adjust a few things, but if you focus on your vision, you will achieve it. Keep your stamina up, persist, push on, and eventually you will find yourself where you want to be.