A journey is an incredible thing, but I’m not talking about packing your bags and going abroad. We have physical journeys, spiritual journeys, healing journeys. Anything we do, any goal we set starts us on a journey. The problem is that we sit around without goals, so we have no where to go.
All too many of us tend to see ourselves in a rut. We go to work. We go to school. We go home, and then do the same thing again the next day. But this is not what we want. We want to be out of the rut, out of this pattern we are in. We spin in circles with no direction to follow. The problem is that we are not even sure which direction to pick. So what do we do? Well the first step is defining what we want, and it has to be reasonable. It is real easy to sit there and say that your goal is to win the lottery and retire. That is more of a fantasy than a goal, and yet there are steps to getting there too. The difference is that there is a huge element of chance involved.
Pick something real. Pick something attainable. Maybe you’d like to be doing a different type of work. Pick the field you want to be in. Maybe you’d like to lose weight, or be healthier. Maybe it is a combination of things. Maybe one thing will lead to another (as these things typically do).
Once you have a goal, you know what you are working for. This gives you a direction. Once you have a direction, you can start moving. But a long term goal is a carrot at the end of a long stick. One needs to feel progress, so we look at what we want, and define how we will get there. We create steps to take which gives us intermediate goals, goals that will eventually take us to our final goal.
With these goals, we start taking steps. Sometimes they are baby steps, but that is how we have to start. The key is to get moving. Once we are moving, things come easier. A friend told me that he was at a crossroads, and did not know which way to go. He felt his compass was just spinning. I asked him what he wants. This made him define a goal. He wanted to sharpen certain skills and get in shape, basically to improve himself. So once the overall goal was defined, I got him to define the intermediate goals.
Well, getting in shape physically was the first thing on the list. To do that, he needs to start working out. Once he makes the steps to do that, he will start feeling better, and feel better about himself. Once he starts working out, he will open himself to other options. With the blood flowing, other possibilities will open themselves to him, and he will see different paths that will get him to his destination. Once he feels better, he will start doing the exercises necessary to sharpen his skills, and eventually become what he wants.
The same is true for anyone. Define your goal. Define how you will get there. Break it down into steps. Set intermediate goals. And the start moving by taking that first step. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Take that step.