“You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.”
-Ted Turner
Our beautiful daughter just received her Master's degree. We are so proud of her. It was difficult for her because while she was taking graduate classes, she held down a full time teaching job (2nd graders!!!), was an incredible mother to a toddler AND was an amazing wife! She had a bunch going on, but she had a goal and reached it!
Watching her go through all of this reminds me of when I was about 10 and my dad and I were in the garage working on something and having some great father - daughter time. I was asking him about something (I don’t remember what) and he told me this…. “Ya know when you want to do something big, you have to set a goal. A goal is NOT something easy - it is something you have to WORK for! Think of it this way… your goal is at the top of a ladder and every time you do something in life that helps you reach your goal, you are taking a step upward - climbing a rung!”
As I grew older and life happened (graduation, new job, marriage, kids), on occasion my dad would come up to me or send me a note that said “You just climbed up another rung!” That message always came to me right when I needed it the most. “You see,” I remember him saying,” a goal is much harder than just a dream. A dream is something you wish for, but a GOAL is something you work for!”
I have learned that you can have several ladders in life - or dang it - just keep reusing the same one! Goals can be small or HUGE! They can be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or life goals! They have to be measurable. The steps you take to reach them are your rungs to climb. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter how long it takes… what matters is that you are always climbing upward! What will you work for this year?
So what is at the top of your ladder? How will you get there? What steps/rungs will you have to climb? If you have a hard time with “seeing” the big picture, set smaller goals. I know you can do it! Practice makes perfect! I believe in you! Start climbing!
Helpful Hint: A way to reach a goal is to visualize your ladder. Sometimes you don’t even know what the steps are or are going to be - they might just happen and you think “ AWWWW that was a step up the ladder!” Try it! Practice with something small! Write down or discuss with someone (accountability partner) what some of your small goals might be and how you are going to go about reaching them. Use a visual for help.