4 Proven Strategies To Start Achieving Your Goals
Hit Rock Bottom Faster and Start Living the Life of Your Dreams
We’ve all heard the phrase “rock bottom.”
“She hit rock bottom.”
“Eventually, he’ll hit rock bottom.”
“Everybody has a different rock bottom."
It’s most commonly used to describe people struggling with destructive behaviors—addictions, financial ruin, broken relationships. You’re probably wondering why this guide about achieving your goals is starting with such a topic. Well, achieving your goals is going to require you to stop doing what you have been doing and do something different instead.
As such, we can actually pull from the wisdom inherent in the individual who has hit "rock bottom" to show us how to make a radical shift in our lives that can help us get to where we want to go!
Why Rock Bottom?
Have you ever stopped to wonder why “rock bottom” is such a powerful turning point?
It always seems to come before the big reveal in the plot where everything turns around for the better.
Why is crisis such a potent catalyst for change?
And more importantly…
What if you didn’t have to wait for rock bottom to start living the life you actually want?
The techniques described below can be used to help you find the motivation to change that bad habit—maybe you're drinking too much or struggle to get out of bed in the morning—but they can also be used to build energy around achieving your goals.
Imagine finally feeling empowered to write that book or start that business you've got in your heart!
What Is Rock Bottom—Really?
Most people think of rock bottom as an event—a lost job, a divorce, an eviction.
But in reality, rock bottom is an inflection point—a moment where there's a shift in direction.
"
Rock bottom is simply the moment when
the pain of staying the same
becomes greater than the fear of change.
That’s it.
It’s the instant you realize that doing nothing is actually the riskier option. It’s the moment you understand that the habits, choices, and patterns you’ve been holding onto are costing you more than they’re giving you.
So, what is it about this particular "rock bottom" environment that makes it so potent for creating behavior change and subsequently life change?
Humans have basic drives toward pleasure and away from pain. In the "rock bottom" scenario, both are present. Using this basic knowledge, we can actually create the same environment for ourselves, hijacking our internal drive systems and leveraging them to help us achieve our goals.
So why wait until your life falls apart to change?
Let's talk about how to create your own rock bottom on your own terms.
How to Hit Rock Bottom Without Wrecking Your Life
The key to real change is making the pain of staying the same visible and undeniable—while showing yourself that change is easier than you think.
Here’s how:
1. Make the Cost of Staying the Same Painfully Clear
Most people underestimate how much their bad habits are costing them—until it’s too late.
Ask yourself: “What will my life look like in a year if nothing changes?”
If you keep putting this off, what will it cost you in energy, confidence, and happiness?
What about that most precious of resources that we can't get back: time?
If you keep avoiding the work you know you need to do, where will you be in five years?
We often ignore reality because we don’t want to deal with discomfort. But the truth?
Future pain is always worse than present discomfort.
Taking action now means you get past the fear and start building momentum today.
2. Stop Overcomplicating Change—It’s Easier Than You Think
Most people don’t start because they assume change is overwhelming.
They think they need a perfect plan, endless preparation, and absolute certainty before taking action.
But the truth? Most of the pain we feel about change isn’t real—it’s just our fear talking.
The alcoholic imagines a life without alcohol will be miserable—until they take the first step.
The gambler assumes quitting will mean losing all their fun and excitement—until they see the financial freedom it brings.
The aspiring entrepreneur thinks they need to know everything before starting a business—until they realize they can learn as they go.
The way to break through? Make the implicit, explicit.
Try this simple exercise:
Write down your dream outcome.
List the steps required to get there.
Break it down into what you can do today and what you’ll need to learn or outsource.
Chances are, your list is shorter than you expected.
See, the mental enemy to progress is making mountains out of mole hills. We’ll always assume they’re mountains until we look them dead in the face, see them for what they are, and call pest control to get rid of the moles in your backyard.
Reality Check: If your plan has fewer than 10 steps, it’s not an insurmountable mountain—it’s just a staircase.
The trick, as James Clear would say, is just to get 1% better every day.
To paraphrase and fully butcher a couple of proverbs:
The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and... the best day to start chewing was yesterday.
The second best day is today.
3. Use the 80-Year-Old-You Trick
Someone once said that you’ll keep repeating the same lessons over and over until you learn them. It’s just one of those principles of this universe. Until you learn a lesson, you will continue to put yourself into positions where you must choose the familiar or the unknown.
When we always choose the familiar path, we’ll always wind up in the same destination.
The problem is that every time we choose the familiar, we reset the threshold for how much pain we’re willing to endure in order to avoid the discomfort of the unknown. Every time we choose the familiar, we are deciding that it will take more pain for us to change in the future.
How to buck up and make the change then?
I like to use a thought experiment.
When faced with a tough decision, I imagine myself as the 80-year-old version of myself. Maybe I’m telling the story of this decision to my son or grandson. Depending on the decision I make, I will label this story as the time I learned my lesson or the time I chose to make the lesson more painful.
When put in this perspective, when we see our decisions for what they are, it becomes a little bit easier to make the hard choice. We’re choosing pain, yes, but we’re choosing less pain now instead of more pain in the future.
I’ll stop charging fancy meals to my credit card and racking up more debt today so my bill isn’t even higher a month from now.
I’ll choose to start exercising today so I don’t have an even more difficult time in a few years when my joints hurt even worse.
I’ll choose to start that business today instead of having even more years of regret and indecision behind me when I finally take the leap.
Is today the day that you chose more pain or is today the day that you learned your lesson?
When you view your decisions this way, it becomes easier to make the right choice.
4. Hire A Coach—Because You’re Not Meant to Do This Alone
Oh come on… you know I write these blog posts for a reason, right? 😏
The fact of the matter is that even though change isn’t as hard as you think it is, it’s still not easy. Men in our modern culture tend to isolate and believe that they need to solve every problem alone.
Don’t be that guy. That mindset is keeping you stuck.
Even if you don’t hire me, find yourself a coach that specializes in whatever it is you’d like to achieve.
Don’t waste another day avoiding the work it’s going to take to make your dream a reality.
Don’t rack up more debt before you start paying the bill.
Don’t choose to stay the same when infinite potential might just be one different decision away.
I help men find and name their passions and their dreams.
I help men make plans to achieve their goals.
I help men turn their plans into reality.
If you’re tired of living the same day over and over again on autopilot and ready to live the life of your dreams, schedule a call with me and let’s start building the life you want today.
Don’t wait another year to start fixing your finances.
Don’t wait until your health declines before you start moving.
Don’t wait until you’re drowning in regret before you take the leap.
You can start today, so let’s get to work.
