Setting Goals and Enjoying the Journey

Hello again, glad you're back :)  For today's post I really wanted to share about how important goals are...and admit at how terribly bad I can be at reaching them sometimes.  Seriously you guys, there are moments where I'm so on top of things and then there are those moments where I procrastinate and am not moving in the direction I'm wanting to move in at all.  It's as if I'm trying to paddle a boat around on the sand while expecting to reach my destination...I'm never going to get there.

Without having goals you cannot, and will not, reach your dreams.  Why, might you ask?  Because your goals are part of the journey and your dreams are the destination.  You can't just be standing in one place and expect to instantly be standing in a different place...it doesn't work that way.  In order to get somewhere else you have to decide on where you want to go (dream/vision), how you plan to get there (goals), and of course, you have to start the journey. 

I can't even tell you how many times I've come up with the most spectacular, awesome, amazing idea ever and then end up doing absolutely nothing in order to get there.  And for whatever reason, I then find myself disappointed that my idea never came to life...but the fault lies with me.  I had no goals.  Or even worse yet, if I did, I never pursued them.  

It's also drastically important to realize that the journey is actually often times far more beneficial and valuable than the destination you're trying to reach.  The journey is what makes you who you are.  The learning, listening, and preparing.  The failing, the falling, the tears.  The succeeding, the growth, the joy.  The ugly, the beautiful...all of it.  In order to reach your dreams and become all that you were meant to be, you must accept the journey.  No matter how messy or scary it may seem.  I've wasted far too much time fighting the journey and lemme just tell you...it helps nothing and moves me nowhere.

I've already shared my dream...but now I want to share the goals that I've come up with so far.  Sharing with others and having deadlines for your goals is reeeeally key to actually meeting them.  (Trust me...I've learned the hard way!) So I'm sharing with YOU!  Here they are...steps (goals) to my journey ahead...

1.  Start a blog and write three times a week.  (Moving in the right direction so far!)
2.  Open up an Etsy account (before the end of the March.)
3.  Start a separate Facebook page solely for my business (before the end of the March.)
4.  Work on my art/blog/etsy/ for at least 15 hours a week.  (After all, I stopped pursuing a part time job for this...I need to make it count!!)

Though they are basic and few, it's my start...the start of my journey.  And the more of these tiny goals I reach, the further I move in my journey and the closer I get to where I want to be. 

And the same is true for YOU.  Take some time today (even if just for a few minutes while sitting on that lovely porcelain throne of yours) and really ask yourself, "What is/are my dream/dreams?"  "What's that thing that brings me instant joy whenever I picture myself doing it?" Write it down...anywhere.  And then continue to think throughout the day of at least three goals that would help you get a tiny bit closer to that dream.  I really encourage you to do this...whether the smallest dream or largest.  I promise you that standing still is not taking you any closer.  But envisioning a dream, setting goals, and running towards them most certainly will.  And don't ever forget to enjoy the journey. 

No longer paddling on sand, I've finally hit water.