Visionary

My birthday is on the horizon and each year at this time, I really start taking stock of my life and what I've accomplished since my last reality check the year prior. Part of it is a pat on the back for not losing my shit, random meltdowns riding solo in my car not withstanding. Part of it is a scratch of the scalp as I realize how I've repeated an inefficient cycle of allowing my goals to go unchecked. Undoubtedly, I look around at my environment and ask, "Am I where I need to be in order to grow?" I'm of the mindset that you bloom wherever you're planted and I know that at the end of the day, I possess everything I need to survive and have the capacity to secure what I want to thrive. This year, the answer to that question is a hesitant, lukewarm "Yes."

At the start each year since graduating from college with my Bachelor's, I fulfill this ritual of creating a vision board. Most of the "'quote' goals 'unquote'" I illustrated in the past were lofty and purposefully unspecific. This helped to alleviate the pressure I felt to hold myself accountable in speaking about what I hoped to accomplish that year aloud and subject to the gaze of others. I was afraid to say, "This year I'm saving $2000+," because I didn't want to hear my mom asking, "Shouldn't you be saving money and meal prepping," each time I called her and pulled up to a drive-thru to order my #1 with a small peach milkshake and two packets of honey roasted BBQ sauce. I was finding pretty pictures to compliment my fluffy plans to accomplish the easily attainable low bar of goals. I did this for several years until this year when my partner, being the inquisitive and probing person he is, asked, "What's the purpose of creating another vision board when you really didn't even pay attention to the old one?" He's the master of rhetorical questions and subtle shade. I forgot the witty, half-baked, shooting-from-hip-hope-he-doesn't-notice answer I gave, but the question struck a nerve at something at my core.

What good is a vision when the visionary has lost sight of it? What good is a vision that sits eye-level with your line of sight? Shouldn't your visions challenge you? Shouldn't the goals you set for yourself scare you just a little (the part of you that's complacent)? A goal that's truly worthy of your time and energy should shift your paradigm and force you to evolve. And not just that gust of wind sort of force, I'm talkin' lifting houses from one side of the street to another and down the block a ways, 'cause otherwise you aren't even growing. I could go into the SMART Goals methodology, but you've likely heard about it by now. At the end of the day it all boils down to this: are you a better person because of the trying experience of working toward achieving your specified goals?

One of my favorite quotes of all time (heads up, I have like 76,543,210 favorite quotes, so you'll be reading these words A LOT in my blog lol), is by an unknown source: "Set a goal so big that you can't achieve it until you grow into the person who can." Our goals are meant to be life altering, because we all know the cliche "what got you here won't get you there" holds true in every area of life. In terms of your professional and personal life, what got you here might not even keep you here realistically speaking. Mechanical engineers and information scientists of all kinds are finding ways to automate nearly every service and process that translates to a greater bottom line.

Since my conversation with my partner at the start of the year, I've looked at last year's vision board and have begun thinking and acting on more serious goals (finally publishing this blog being one of them). I don't feel the same sense of guilt as I have in the past when I looked at the year's vision board. This time around, I feel a sense of urgency in realizing these goals, and actualizing my vision. Also, in an effort to not make anymore excuses, I have the connected my goals to smaller, bite-sized actionable steps. I've known the significance of doing this all along, yet here I am, in my 20's feeling the need to get it together before 30 creeps up on me.

Examples of my 2017 Lofty Goals vs Revised Goals:

1. Share my thoughts in my writing

Publish blogs on my own site weekly

2. Publish in print

Finish writing my book by 01/01/2019

3. Get active

Workout at least twice a week

4. Go on more adventures

Get out and enjoy the great outdoors every other weekend. Try new restaurants or go to a new place once a once. Live this Life

5. Save money

Create a monthly budget

6. Eat healthier

Limit eating out to 2 days a week, cook using fresh ingredients, add more plant-based proteins and leafy greens

With my birthday nearing day by day, I feel a bit more reassured this year as I truly understand that it's not too late to "make sum'n shake" (translation: "make it happen" lol). Is it ever really too late? It's a day in and day out j-o-b. Don't succumb to the guilt, the crippling feeling of being overwhelmed, the temptation to take a backseat in your own life, or the complacency to just carry on moving in the same way. I've decided to recommit to myself; to forgive myself for missed opportunities and misappropriated time binge watching shows on Netflix under the guise of self-care. I laugh in delight as I think on the conclusion, "this time it's Forreal!" but I truly do feel it on a spiritual level. Even if I veer off track here and there, because breaking habits gets funky, I finally know where I'm going this time so I feel I can confidently find my way back.

Thank you for reading.

#visionboard #loftygoals #habits #accountability