Goal setting: How To Reach Your Mountain Top
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When my husband and I visited Indiana Dunes State Park we encountered a lot of steps like these during our daily hikes. They are made to protect the Sand Dunes.
I couldn’t help but think as I climbed them, this is how big goals are reached; one step at a time, sometimes it is small step after small step and sometimes we get to enjoy moments where our progress seems amazing.
The strides builds our excitement about the ultimate goal giving us energy for the small steps ahead. They also give us time to ponder the large goal. Will it really be all that we expected?Will we have that feeling of triumph? Will the mountain top inspire us to set yet another goal and keep trudging on?
On this night the mountain top held a spectacular view.One that had to be savored. One that had to be breathed in deeply. It filled us with the awe of God’s creation. It inspired us to take more hikes, to explore further, and that is just what meeting a goal should do too.
When you make your goals too obtainable they don’t refill the inspiration tanks. When you make you goals too unobtainable they overwhelm and discourage. The key is to breakdown your big goal into a journey that contains refreshment stops where you can regain your strength and realize how far you have already come.
For instance, perhaps you have a goal to run a marathon like I once did, but right now you can’t even walk a mile let alone run 26.2. Your goal first should be to walk a mile. Then to walk for a full hour. Followed by running a full mile. Followed by running 2 full miles……..and so on until you complete your first 5K, your first 10K your first 1/2 marathon and then finally the mountain top; the 26.2 race.
Each mini goal is a stride, a time to pause and catch your breathe and celebrate how far you have come, followed by small steps until the next stride, and so on, until you reach your mountain top. When you get there, don’t rush, take a moment to truly take it all in. To be in awe of your accomplishment. To let it fill your tanks with inspiration for your next goal.
What are you striving for right now? Are the small steps wearing you down? Hang on a stride is ahead and the mountain top is not that far away. When you reach it, look back for just a brief second, and take joy in your accomplishment. You did it. You snail paced your way to the top. Congratulations I knew you could.
