How far are you willing to go? When you are given an assignment, do you put it off until later? When plotting out your classes, do you search for the easiest path? When you are told that the way forward is impossible, or even highly improbable, do you step down?
First, if you do not set a goal, you will go nowhere. You could have every God-given resource at your disposal, but without an aim then those resources have no value in your hands. The difference between a goal and a dream is the amount of effort you put into chasing after it. If you state that you want to run a marathon, but never start running, you are never going to run a marathon. You can buy new shoes or workout clothes and still never come near to putting in the actual work that will get you there. Second, goals don’t just disappear when you are tired or just aren’t feeling it anymore. A race doesn’t stop if you have to pull off to the side to throw up. You have to be willing to run goals down. Banish any fear of failure, knowing that failure is as inevitable as success.
In my room, I keep a poster board with all the things that I will one day do. It is not a list of fantasy, but a reminder of the goals I am working towards every day. I have written on there publishing a book, growing a garden, through hiking the Appalachian Trail, learning Japanese and graduating college. That is just a small subset. This board is a contract between myself and I. It shows what I am willing to achieve. Every day when I get up I see that board and am reminded of what I have to do. Every time I come back into my dorm room, I see that board and know the steps I need to take. And whenever someone else enters my room or my life they see what I am setting myself up to embark upon, thus binding me to a greater extent to the standards I have set for myself.
Consequently, this is why I encourage you to start your own list. Find a pen. Sign your name where marked in this paper and write three things you are going to complete in the coming year. Then hang it somewhere you will see it. Put thought and effort into your choices knowing that the person you can fail will be yourself. In that moment you will set your limits.
Those frightened at what they might accomplish will write down goals already at the grasp of their hand. Other may take this as a joke, writing down deeds that will know no doer. And those brave enough and smart enough will have just signed the start of an adventure.
