Goal setting

Now as we begin to realize how powerful a dream can really become, hopefully we are beginning to set goals to help us achieve that dream.  Better yet, hopefully we are beginning to act on those stepping stone goals and getting that much closer to the big picture.

Today I would like to talk about the process of setting those stepping stone goals to help you achieve your dream.  The most important thing I can say about this process is to be specific.  What I mean by that is make these stepping stone goals, as well as the big picture dream, measureable.  For those sports lovers out there, this can become a lot easier.  You can go off times, distances, scores, and so on.  But for someone who wants to get "healthy" or become more "happy" we will have a hard time recording progress.  Now these are amazing things to strive for, don't get me wrong.  There is just so much gray area that it can become easy to get discouraged and quit.

When reaching a stepping stone goal, the motivation that follows can be so powerful.  If we keep the big picture goal at "becoming healthier," we have to make sure to keep the stepping stone goals more specific.  This may include: lowering your cholesterol a certain number of points, striving to get your blood pressure two marks closer to what it should be at, or even losing an inch off the waist. This will help us keep track of our progress as well as keep our motivation up for when we hit those goals.

If we are not hitting our stepping stone goals, this will give us a wake up call to make some changes to get back on track.  This is so important to remember.  Sometimes we set a time on when we would like to reach one of our stepping stone goals.  I know with my running this is something I do all the time.  We have to focus on not getting discouraged if those goals are not met.  We have to keep our determination strong, make changes to stay disciplined, and just continue to drive forward. 

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else."

-Yogi Berra