“…everyday we make little decisions that will either lead us closer to or further away from the big successes we all want.” (Kent Julian at http://www.liveitforward.com)
Life is full of choices. I have to admit, I have gotten into the pattern of not always making the best choices. I’ve gotten lazy. I’ve been stressed and busy and instead of always striving to do my best, I’ve cut corners. I woke up one day and realized that creates bad habits that are hard to break. When I do that long enough, it becomes less about cutting corners and more about a pattern in my life I don’t like very much.
Recently I was reminded of a truth I had heard last fall at a conference. Kent Julian was one of the speakers and he made a comment that got me thinking. He started by asking the question, “Where do I want to be in five years?” The choices are endless. I could add to my family, be in better shape through consistent diet and exercise, or earn a degree in a field that I love…the list is endless. He then made the statement that in five years I will be older. I can be five years closer to what I want to achieve, or I can be five years further away from my ultimate dream. Either way, in five years I will have moved in some direction. What is my choice?
That brings me back to the present. I woke up one morning this summer and broke that statement down a little more. I had goals for this summer, lofty ones. Some that would require hard work to achieve. And, I did a little assessment on how I’m doing toward those goals. Some of them I’m achieving with flying colors. Others are taking a little longer than I originally planned, but forward progress is still being made. And then others, the really tough ones, it seems as though I’m either going backwards or barely gaining any ground.
Isn’t that how it is in life? Time doesn’t stand still. I can always say, “I’ll start tomorrow,” but unless I start making little decisions on a daily basis toward my goal, tomorrow will never come. It’s the little decisions done consistently over time that add up to big changes that will eventually help me reach my goal.
What about you? How are you doing? Is there one area of your life that you would like to see success, not fleeting success, but true change that sticks? Maybe if we work together on making little changes consistently we will both be able to rejoice five years from now as our life will look more the way we envision it and less the way it did before we implemented the positive changes.