For years I was the ultimate goal setter. I had a one year plan, five year, ten year, and even a 20 year plan for my life. Over time, as my life evolved, my desires changed. Goals were modified and time lines were adjusted. But regardless of what was going on in my life, there were goals - things to do, places to go. Until finally one day, I realized my goals were not directing my life, my life was dictating my goals. Whenever something unforeseen would happen to change the direction of my life, I would adjust my goals to fit the new direction. After years of playing this leap frog game, I realized it had been a useless exercise.
That is not to say I didn't accomplish anything with my life. And - some of the things I accomplished were those one year, five year, & ten year goals. But I can honestly say, the greatest achievements in my life did not begin as preconceived goals, but rather as a clear, single thought in my mind. A thought that simply appeared. Without solicitation, without struggle. A thought that was at once idea, plan, result.
So - if not through long term goal setting, how do we stay focused? What do we need to do to provoke those thoughts that become the reality of our focus? We need to think more in terms of a vision for our lives. "Vision is the part of our lives that encompasses pure possibilities," Deepak Chopra. We can (and probably should) set short term goals to help us reach our vision. But setting long term goals can actually be restricting, and may even prevent us from realizing our vision. The key is to always be "seeing" one's vision without missing the beauty of the path along the way.
And those are my thoughts that.
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The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
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