Wednesday, December 28, 2016

My Biggest Goal In 2017 Is To Focus On The Journey As Much As I Focus On The Destination


From December 26th until December 31st, I spend catching up on all the stuff I fell behind on from Thanksgiving until Christmas. I also use this time to reflect. It's no big news that I'm not a fan of New Year's Resolutions. Instead, while I'm catching up on stuff, I reflect and give much thought to what I'm catching up on and why. Although it's been a productive year, what I've realized is that I was too focused on the finish line. The end result. The finished product. I gave very little thought and consideration to the entire process leading up to all of that.

Here's an example. One of the top New Year's Resolutions for a lot of people is to lose weight and get into shape. Shortly before Christmas, and immediately after, retailers promote products to assist people with these goals. Fitness equipment. Running sneakers. Diet pills. Detox shakes. The latest technology to keep track of steps and calories. They offer sales and coupons on all of these items.

Let's say Sally wants to lose 50 pounds and run her first 5K in the spring. She gears up with a treadmill and purchases one of those 30-day detox bundles. Sally also purchases some fitness apparel, diet pills, and a juicer.

January 1st rolls along and Sally is off to a great start. She's gagging her way through meal replacement shake after meal replacement shake. She's getting up an hour early to do some time on the treadmill. Throughout the day, Sally is incessantly checking her Fitbit. She's doing everything that's required to lose those 50 pounds and register to run her first 5K in the late spring.

There's just one problem. Sally was focused too much on the destination and not enough on the journey. She didn't think about her lifestyle, work schedule, the hurdles, the willpower, or the what ifs.

What if Sally had to go into work early and that cut into her fitness time? Or what if she had to work late and was too exhausted for the treadmill when she got home?

What if Sally had to meet with clients at a restaurant? What foods could she eat instead of drinking her meal replacement shake?

What if Sally was too exhausted to prepare meals and snacks for the next 3 days?

What if Sally didn't address all of the things that prevented her from adhering to a healthy and fit lifestyle?

More than likely, Sally is going to get frustrated and revert back to her old habits.

The same thing happened to me.

My personal example, out of many, would be purchasing a new Singer sewing machine the last week of November.

That had been a goal of mine for many months.

I was determined that once I had purchased a sewing machine, I could whip up patchwork doggy blankets, pup apparel, and other cute stuff.

In fact, the last item for the Bodacious 12 Days Of Christmas was supposed to be a patchwork doggy blanket and bag o' holiday biscuits.

That didn't exactly happen. I ended up posting an alternative item.

It's now Wednesday, December 28th, and the new sewing machine is still sitting in the box. 

Why?

Because I gave too much thought to the destination and very little thought to the journey.

The journey would have been realizing that from Thanksgiving until Christmas is our busiest time of year. This year, in addition to what we've always done, we launched the Bodacious 12 Days Of Christmas and our Bodacious Biscuit Love Bin.

I've been sewing for over 30 years. I know the amount of time it takes to make a patchwork blanket.

That's what it all boils down to.

We, myself included, focus too much on the destination. The goal. The finish line.

We don't acknowledge the distance between point A and point B.

That has been my biggest downfall in 2016.

Sure, I launched a new blog site, this one, but the traffic sucks and there's no exposure.

Why?

Because I didn't put aside the time to focus on social media, photos, videos, and all that it takes to launch a new blog site.

I'm aware of the work and effort and long hours it takes to make a blog site successful. I've been in this line of work for a decade now. I know this stuff.

Yet, by focusing too much on the destination, I shorted myself.

There's no magic carpet that's going to whisk you from point A to point B.

Sure, I bought a new sewing machine, but that sewing machine wasn't going to make patchwork doggy blankets by itself.

Sure, I launched a new blog site, but I don't have hired help to spend 40+ hours a week keeping it updated and posting everything on my social media streams. That's something I have to do on my own.

Sure, our Bodacious 12 Days Of Christmas was successful, but I gave no thought to how much time I would have to invest to make that possible.

Had I given the journey the same amount of thought and respect as I gave the destination, I wouldn't have to spend the week after Christmas catching up.

And, my list of "Things I'm Not Going To Do In 2017" wouldn't be so long.

Or, I wouldn't feel like a total failure. 

With all of that in perspective, my biggest goal in 2017 is to focus on the journey as much as I focus on the destination.

Once I establish that, the small stuff is a piece of cake.

I've got this.

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