Do you have a life plan?

Although I’m very goal-oriented, I have always had a really hard time setting long-term goals. They feel so fantastical and even a little silly sometimes. It also seems to me like setting firm goals can put you stubbornly on the wrong path sometimes.

I heard someone talking about goals (again!) last week, and it finally sunk in that my goals don’t have to be concrete. They also don’t have to be perfectly clear. I also realized that I do have long-term goals, it’s just that because they are a little fuzzy I wasn’t really calling them goals, but ideas.

Here was his analogy: it’s like you’re in a room with a big door. You’re standing at one end of the room, and outside the door you can see an even larger room. From where you are, you can see a few details of the larger room, but not many. As you walk closer and closer towards to the door, your view of what is in the next room gets bigger and more detailed. Your view does, in fact, change, but the core elements are probably still there. Thus, your long-term goals are constantly growing in detail and size.

I tried the concept on for size and, lo and behold – recognized the long-term goals that have been with me all along.

Let me know if it works for you!