Making It Up As I Go Along

I have never really bought into the idea of visualisation. You can’t visualise yourself into success unless you have the circumstances that allow you to succeed, whatever they might be. When I think of my goals they tend to be reactive not proactive. It’s about making the best of what life throws at you. People who don’t reach their goals aren’t, in general, less committed to them, they are less fortunate with the combination of personal qualities and opportunities required. You can have the former but you must have the latter. We have seen so many examples of poor quality people reaching the top to pretty much confirm this, especially in global politics.

So, is there any point in setting goals? Well the phrase God laughs at man’s plans indicates not! However, the verse this is derived from is less clear cut. Proverbs 16:9 says ‘A man’s heart plans his course but the Lord determines his steps.’ If you don’t believe in a higher power you can replace Lord with universe or fate, but the message is the same. We can set our goals to give ourselves direction, but we have to accept what eventually transpires. The most important goals in my life have tended to be reactions to the situations I found myself in. That doesn’t make them any less important, and it makes them more realistic. As a child my goal was to be a sports writer and I ended up writing reports for my son’s baseball team for a season and my daughter’s junior football team for seven years. I didn’t get paid but I took the chance to achieve my goals in a way that meant so much more to me.

I have set myself goals for the next stage of my life after deciding to give up full time year round teaching for a very good reason. I am still determined to do well in whatever form that takes and the focus I have given myself has put me in the right frame of mind to keep growing and learning. Do I expect to achieve everything on my list? No. Will I add to my list with a clear expectation of reaching those goals? Of course! To do anything else would be to live an aimless life, but I fully accept that what transpires may be very different from what is planned.

Good luck with your goals but remember the pleasure lies in aiming for the target even if you don’t hit it.