Goals

Goals...

What are goals, and are they necessary?  Would we end up at the same place if we didn’t have them?

Miriam Webster defines the term Goal as the following: “The end toward which effort is directed.”

I believe in goals with detours. I think that when we identify too much with where we are going that we then lose track of where we are.  Being, while we’re becoming and content with where we’ve been, make goals obtainable in my opinion. Moving towards the positive is all that can be asked. Giving up on perfection is a necessary condition of true success. Yes to goals, No to fixed rigid goals that do not take unforeseen circumstances into account. In other words, goals that focus on the end and not the effort (method) are what I believe to be effective.

“Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor”-Brian Tracy

During the No Spend Month of September our goal was to spend ONLY with cash. We have done so. To spend only $15 a day, and preferably have a surplus at the end of the week. (So far, so good) The first 10 days went off without a hitch. Our goals were met- Success! A deposit was made into the emergency fund. Day 11 brought with it some challenges. Unexpected birthday gifts, a craving for expensive cheese, and an urge to just get in the car and drive-which threatened the goal of $15 a day. However, even with these glitches Day 11 was under budget by $2.14.

 However, for the past 10 days nearly a thing was purchased. My expectations and goals shifted into the unrealistic goal of saving even the $15 a day, when in actuality that money was there to spend on gas, grocery items and necessities throughout the week. Sometimes going for a ride, or buying horseradish cheese (when it’s in the budget) is okay. I mean I still had $2.14 left in my envelope at the end of the day. It wasn’t the whole $15, but it was something. I’m satisfied. I can keep going now. Tomorrow’s $15 + 2.14 = $17.14 is going towards a birthday present for my niece. I have two more gifts to buy this week, and gas again for the car. It can be done. I have a reachable goal.

                                                                              
Success

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and to endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Aim for your goals today, lean towards them, and you are moving in the right direction. Life is a journey, not a destination.