During my recent getaway, I went on a 6.5 mile hike. The path was winding, rocky, muddy and at times…confusing. As you can see from the image, the path was covered with leaves making it hard to know where the path was.
Early on in the hike, I noticed these orange flags posted on trees every 50 or so yards. If I got turned around or I questioned if I was still heading in the right direction, I looked for these little markers and was reassured that I was still on the right path. These markers didn’t have any other information on them other than: you’re on the right path. And it gave me a little boost of energy each time I saw one.
It got me thinking about goals. We’re really good at setting goals and we’re even better at quitting. The problem isn’t our intentions, nor our convictions…it’s that we didn’t set ourselves markers along the path to remind us we’re heading in the right direction.
Whether we want to lose weight, run a marathon or save for retirement, these are all big goals.
Let’s say you want to save $250,000 for retirement. Not a small number. You start early but can only contribute $50 a month to your investment account. At the end of a year…there’s $600 +/- a little depending on the market in your account.
And we feel totally defeated. $600 and we have to make it to $250,000?! It’s impossible. So, we give up. Spend the $50 on a night out.
The problem isn’t the goal. Nor even the headway we made in the first year…it’s that we didn’t mark our path. In fact, let’s say you started at age 23 with this retirement goal and you were only able to contribute $50/month; for the next 42 years. Just $50 a month. With a modest 6% return a year…at retirement you’d have ~$115,000; while this is short of our goal, those little steps we took had enormous impact if we had just stuck to the path.
But we didn’t set markers on our path to tell us “it’s OK, the first few years are going to look bleak. The first few miles are going to be hard. The first few pounds will be tough.”
There are books and books written on the power of goals. “Be intentional” they say “write out a vision board” is the advice…but very few talk about what happens between the starting point and the ending point. We all want to focus on the end goal, the outcome. But those quiet, seemingly insignificant points in between are what actually get you to the goal.
Without markers along the path…you will want to give up. You’ll get lost. You’ll stumble and lose your bearings. And, after you wipe yourself off...you won’t be able to recover because you can't find the path.
Setting a big goal isn’t the problem…failing to mark your path is. The path towards any goal is rarely straight. It will be rocky and muddy. It will be winding and confusing. Getting lost is a part of the journey…staying lost isn’t.
Set your goals. Dream big! But mark your path. Look for the orange markers on your way as a reminder that you’re heading in the right direction.
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