How do you measure your goals?

If you were to go into your kitchen and begin prepping to cook you would probably be inclined to get out your measuring cups or measuring spoons. The reason you might want to do that is to make sure that you get the ingredients as close to perfect as possible in order to make sure whatever dish you are making turns out the way you desire it to.

If you were to put too much of an ingredient or spice into the dish it would be harmful to it and you would very likely either have to throw it out and start over or have to find a way to cover up the strong or bitter taste. Likewise, if you put too little of an ingredient or spice into the dish then most likely it wouldn’t flavor it as much as you think it should be. In that instance too little measuring would be ineffective but at least in this instance you could add more if needed.

Let’s say you have a child and you need to give them some medication. If you were to measure out too much of the medicine it could possibly be very harmful to them. Likewise, if you didn’t  measure out enough then the medicine might be ineffective in the purpose in which you are giving it to them.

Why am I talking about measuring and how it can be harmful or ineffective?

I will explain...

In life we may possibly set goals for ourselves or possibly we have a big dream we might want to accomplish. We set this big goal and we set forth after it. In the process we might feel it’s taking too long or maybe something hinders our pursuit of that goal and we get discouraged. We might feel like we’ve wasted our efforts because of the hinderances and decide that we would give up on the goal. So we have this big goal that either seems unreachable now or it may seem like it will take us too long so we decide to set it aside and often times we never try it again. 

My point is this... sometimes we only set the big goal in our minds and it can seem overwhelming. Just focusing on the big goal can make us feel like we may never get there especially if something comes in between us and it. If the big goal figures to be unreachable in the time frame we allot for it then we may get discouraged and give up.

My suggestion is to measure out smaller goals. Measure out and celebrate smaller wins and progresses. If you set smaller shorter term goals then you can actually see the progress as you go and can stay encouraged. You can set smaller marks to hit and when you hit those then you can move on to the bigger ones. 

For example....

We want to build a house. What must we do in order to build the house? Well, for starters we have to find and buy land which we have. Once we found the land now we have to start clearing it in the place where we want to build which we will be doing this week. So building the house is the big goal and buying the land and clearing it are smaller goals. What else do we have to do? Well, since we are currently paying on a house, we will have to sell it before we can begin construction. Well, getting a house ready to sell is a big goal in itself but still part of the bigger goal of building a house. Now, if we were to focus on how much we must do on our house in order to sell it and try and do it all at one time then that could be very overwhelming so we have to set smaller shorter term goals. We have to take each individual room and break it down to smaller and more realistic goals. Once we do that then it actually seems more manageable than simply just focusing on the building of the house since there are many more smaller goals to hit before that becomes a reality. 

Now, so I make myself clear, it is very much okay to have a big, long term goal to achieve. You can have these goals in your personal life and maybe in your professional life but both are okay. I’m simply saying that you must also measure out smaller short term goals so that you can celebrate the smaller wins. 

Remember that if you don’t add enough seasoning then you can always add more but if you add too much then the meal may end up being a waste and you have to trash it.