Think of goals being signposts on the journey. They tell us if we’re moving in the right direction, but they are not THE direction.

Direction and goals are about as similar as a highway is to signpost.

Route 66 is very different from a particular mile marker on Route 66. If you stay on 66 you’re going to pass those mile posts. But if you get off 66, then who cares what mile markers you’ve written down in your nice planning book.

The issue is focus.

If your focus is on your plan book devotedly gazing at scribbles telling you what signpost you should pass next, here’s what could happen…you’re not going to see that the road turns.

Phoom!

You fly off the highway, flip several times, and come to rest on a patch of prickley pear cacti.

Lacerated and bruised, you grip your goal on that precious piece of paper. You get to your feet to assess what’s happened.

A gila monster awkwardly struggles over your left foot.

You look down.

There, splintered and battered, is your mile marker. It looks just like the goal on the piece of paper you have gripped tightly in your bruised hand.

How unfortunate and how stuck are you?

Focus. Goals are a tool, not a reality.

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