Quote Originally Posted by limewave View Post
Anyone every experience this: you work so hard to achieve a certain goal and then when you finally "arrive" you lose interest?

I have two examples. For the last 2 years I really wanted to race Expert mountain bike. I trained hard, lost a couple of pounds and finally placed at a race in Expert Cat--against a decent size, competitive field of women. I thought that would motivate me to train and work harder to improve beyond that. But since that point last fall, I've lost interest. Now that I know I can do it, I don't feel like I need to anymore. As much as I try to rouse my motivation, I can't. I don't know if I even want to race anymore.

Example 2: Since I began my design career 14 years ago (while I was still in college) all I wanted to do was advance to Art Director position and concept Book covers. It took awhile, but I recently got the promotion I've wanted for almost half my life. And now that I'm here, I find myself scanning the want ads and looking for not only a new job but a career change all together!

What is WRONG with me? And I even enjoy Art Directing! Agh! I'm screwed up in the head.
Limewave,

There is nothing WRONG with you and achieving a goal is, in itself, a loss and can cause depression. The first time I achieved a major goal in my life I found myself in the same place you are now. It just so happend that the achievement came after a bout with cancer so I was under doctor's care and I discussed this with him, he is the one who told me that achievement is a loss (we love to strive for things) and when the strive part is over we get depressed over losing that enjoyable part. The journey is often more fun that the destination.

Since I had also just passed through the cancer thing my mind was correlating the achievement with end of life like "gee my life must be over now because I achieved something that I thought would take many many more years." The Dr. pointed out, "well make more goals." Duh. It was so simple and I could not see that. I had been too caught up in getting there. I was in my late twenties then and it took another decade to fully appreciate the journey more than the destination. It was the beginning of learning to live in the here and now and really enjoy living in the present moment.

It is human nature to constantly look forward and we all play this "...I'll be happy when..." game with ourselves. It's a life changing experience when we shift our thinking and focus to this statement, "...I am happy..." When we do that life suddenly becomes richer and fuller. I think you are experiencing that shift in perspective with your statement that you are feeling much better now that you've decided not to race.

Wishing you much continued success with every accomplishment!