Her response--which was to say that she simply set a goal, made a plan, broke it down into steps then takes it one step at a time--resonated deep within me.
Resonated in an empty cavern, that is.
Such discipline is beyond the scope of my personal experience! I have never mastered the whole Goal Setting, Planning, Getting Started, and Stick to the Plan business. "Master Plan?" Trying to figure out what I want for supper is hard enough; how am I supposed to figure out what I want way down the road? Besides, there is plenty of time to figure all of that stuff out later. So I often live by whims of the moment....
Resonated in an empty cavern, that is.
Such discipline is beyond the scope of my personal experience! I have never mastered the whole Goal Setting, Planning, Getting Started, and Stick to the Plan business. "Master Plan?" Trying to figure out what I want for supper is hard enough; how am I supposed to figure out what I want way down the road? Besides, there is plenty of time to figure all of that stuff out later. So I often live by whims of the moment....
But as I age, I find that living each day without benefit of map or clear destination is not working out as well as it seemed to when I was in my 20s. Life creeps along, I gain several more pounds, and one day realize that I am accomplishing nothing. Nothing! I have existed, dealt with the day-to-day, and meanwhile drifted further away from my vague dreams for the future.
My awareness of time slipping past me has heightened now. In three weeks I will be 46, nine short years away from being considered a "Senior Citizen!" Yet I no longer have a retirement fund. No savings. No income. No career. No real property. No real friends or emotionally nourishing relationships of any kind!
And no clearly defined ambitions beyond solving my current dilemmas. Because what I do have is debt. Uncertainty. Disaster looming ominously over my head, ready to strike at any moment. Stress. And poor health.
In other words, my life is a mess due to my poor (or non-existent) planning. And this is not the life I want to be living... this life I have been living these last several years. This is not how I want my future to be!
My self-esteem is at an all time low.
So my first goal is to educate myself on the principles of goal setting, decision making, and planning. Then to formulate a plan for myself, keeping in mind that a sculptor does not sit down and instantly create a statue of enduring beauty. Only by chipping and filing away tiny bits and pieces from a block of stone is the statue revealed and perfected--over time.
