Plan to Keep Achieving Your Dreams!
Have you ever noticed how many people stop dreaming once they hit 30? The daily grind just sort of becomes habit, and they develop into a comfy routine, where the familiar settles in where the dreamer once lived.
I spent yesterday working through the book, “Your Best Year Yet” (by Jinny Ditzler) with a group of friends. It’s a great little book, that helps you review your past year, get back in touch with your dreams and values, and put together goals for the new year for each major area of your life.
Does it work? I’d love to say every goal comes to pass. They don’t. But the process keeps me focused. My #1 2003 goal was to join the National Speakers Association, an organization with tough membership requirements. Twelve hours before starting my 2004 BYY, the acceptance notice arrived. Woo hoo!
What’s odd is that the whole process only takes a day. Yet how very, very hard it is to set aside those six hours! People had to get time off work. One friend kept his laptop by his side, with email and instant messenger open—just in case. Just in case something important needed his attention.
But you know what? Spending a day redirecting your life is something important. It’s probably more important than anything that could happen at work. Planning your life isn’t “time off”; it’s time ON.
Reflecting, learning, and setting direction can change the entire trajectory of your life. Rather than assuming you’re getting you where you want to go, stop and ask where you want to go. You may not know! The answer you found compelling at age 23 may still be driving your life 20 years later. It’s worth asking.
Then ask if you’re truly making progress. Are you 40? At current life expectancies, that’s about middle age. Are you halfway to where you want to be? At the age when I finally started pursuing my passion, Mozart had been dead for four years. Take a good look at where you are, and give yourself a good kick in the pants if needed to get those dreams back in gear.
There’s an old Chinese saying:
“If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are going.”
Take the saying to heart. Block out a day for reflecting and planning. This is more important than your job. This is more important than family time. This is time ON, and it’s time ON that only you can spend making sure your life is going in the right direction.
Go do great things! I’ll meet you there.