Succeeding at your current goal really comes down to asking yourself this simple question: Are you a renter or an owner? Are you just setting up shop as a renter with only temporary interest and investment? Or are you all in as an owner and committed to achieving your goal the best way possible? There is a vast difference in the mindset of being a renter or an owner which you will show in your attitude, your focus and your behaviors. Let’s look at the definitions for further clarity:

Renter: a lessee or tenant of a property

Owner: one who has the legal or rightful title to something: one to whom property belongs

With your current goal in mind, ask yourself honestly, based on these definitions, are you a renter or an owner?

Here are 4 clarifying questions to ask yourself to discover if you are ‘owning’ your goal!

1) Is your goal temporary? Renters have a temporary attitude about their surroundings. They don’t own it, so they don’t have to put their all into either decorating, maintaining or outfitting their apartment. If you are serious about your goal, and if it really matters to you, then I suggest you decide to own it. By owning it, your goal will be permanent, and you will take it seriously and put it front and center. It’s a good idea to ask yourself this question periodically as you move forward with goal getting.

2) Are you invested in your goal? If you’re renting a car for example, you probably aren’t going to take it to the car wash. You may throw your empty water bottles on the floor in the back. You might not care if the crumbs from your croissant get on the seats. If you own your car, that may all change. You probably maintain it, keep up with oil changes and take better care to keep it neat and clean. It’s the same thing with your goals. If you have a renter mentality, you’ll be more likely to be careless with your goal. You’ll probably let other things get in the way, find reasons not work on your goal and maybe even let your goal go altogether. Investment in this case is more than just monetary. It speaks to the energy and effort you are investing in your goal. As you are evaluating whether you are a renter or an owner, take a look at your behavior around your goal and see if you can catch some clues.

3) Are you committed to your goal? What does commitment look like for you? Think of a time that you may have rented an apartment or even borrowed something from someone. You probably wanted to take care of it, but weren’t as committed as you would be if you owned it. How devoted were you to the apartment? In the case of borrowing something, how committed were you to taking care of it, making sure it didn’t break or look ‘used’ when you returned it? And if you have owned a home was there a difference? For many of us, when we own something, we are far more committed to making it ours, to putting our stamp on it and to its permanence. Your goals are the same. If you are haphazard about working on or even completing your goal, that will become evident in how you approach it. It will be no surprise if everything else in your life takes precedence and you goal just keeps getting shoved further and further down on your To Do list. What that means is that you’re just not that committed to it, and you are more of a renter than an owner.

4) Are you taking care of your goal? Ownership typically requires a degree of sacrifice and stewardship to maintain the beautiful state of your property. Tough choices may pop up such as choosing between a fun afternoon out vs. fixing a broken pipe. There is a sense of pride that comes with taking care of something you’ve invested in because it’s truly yours!. That may be the case with renting, but probably not to same degree. Plus you just naturally care more about something you own, something you paid for that is truly yours!

So, you can decide if you are a renter or an owner of your current goal. I also advise monitoring your behavior around that goal. If you do keep shoving it off and avoiding, take a little time to find out if that goal is truly what you want. Make sure you practice self-reflection, At each step of the way towards completing your goal, check in and find out if you’re a renter or an owner!