We’ve all been guilty of this before. You’re talking with someone and they suggest something you want to do.
You should travel the world.
You should have your own business.
You should quit your job.
You should ________ with your life.
And if we’re even remotely interested in accomplishing that thing, we often issue the knee-jerk response…
“That’s my goal.”
Why do we respond like that? Because most of the time (if not all the time), it’s not a goal. It’s a dream. It’s a wish. It’s a fantasy. It’s something we’d like to accomplish but will probably never get around to actually doing it.
Goals require planning. Dreams are supposed to just magically come together.
Goals require work. Dreams just happen.
Goals require an investment of time, energy, and resources. Dreams don’t.
Are you seeing the differences? Goals are much more difficult to accomplish. So here’s my challenge…think twice before saying “that’s my goal.” Determine if what you really want is worth all the effort and energy to make it happen or is it simply a wish you hope will magically happen someday.
Photo via rejik
It’s interesting to read this post. As I started to get close to 30, I remember thinking, “wow, how did our parents do it? How did they have it all so together?” And then it suddenly hit me and I said to my husband, “the life we dream of for ourselves isn’t going to just magically happen simply because time has gone by. You’re not going to have a nice house and 2 kids by the time you’re 40 simply because you’ve reached a certain age. Things don’t just happen. You have to plan for them. You have to know what it is you want, how you want your life to look in 5 years, in 10, etc. How do you want to spend your days, who are the people who surround you? Once you know this, you have to set your goals and follow the steps to reach them! If you don’t do that, then you’re just floating through life, you’re letting others control the outcome of your life. If you don’t plan your life, don’t expect anything to happen. Time will go by, that is a guarantee, but we can’t expect to have the life we want if we don’t plan for it. Setting goals and following through are vital to living the life one wants to live.”
Very well said Martha 🙂
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