No, this is not a travel article. It’s about setting goals and achieving them. Why mountains? Read on to find out.
Those who are not indifferent to mountains will understand me – when you see a point in front of you that you want to reach, because from there you have to have a magical view, and you end up there, you have an indescribable feeling of being tired, but at the same time immensely happy, of being proud that you have made a journey that sometimes seemed insurmountable, of having pushed the limits of your possibilities once again. But! From this point on, you see even more and higher peaks than you thought you had, and you realise that there are even more spectacular views and adventures to come.
Yesterday, as I was taking a walk in nature and looking at the mountain peaks looming in the distance, I was thinking – after all, achieving goals in the mountains is very much like achieving goals in one’s professional or personal life! We usually set ourselves ambitious goals, which often require a lot of hard work. A long-term goal is like a journey in the mountains – at first it seems difficult, sometimes impossible, but when we look back and see the path we have taken and the result we have achieved – our hearts sing. I remember one of my hikes in the mountains when my travel partner put his finger on a point at the top and said “There, see that point? That’s where we’re going to climb.” My initial reaction – impossible! Too high, too far, too much and other arguments followed one after the other. But I realised – there is no turning back 🙂 What helped me reach my goal? Breaking it down into smaller steps (short-term goals) – now to this waterfall, then to this rock, then a little more to that bush. Concentrating on the steps, watching my heart rate, taking short breaks when needed. Nothing else exists – just me, my body, my senses and that point at the top waiting for me. An example from a professional life comes to mind – we set an annual goal to introduce a new process in the company. Sounds very serious, right? But if we break it down into monthly goals, e.g. in the first month we do an audit of the current situation, in the second month we find out about all the stakeholders and their needs, in the third month we look for global best practices, etc., the goal doesn’t seem so big anymore, right?
What if we planned our professional or personal goals in the same way as a hike in the mountains? First of all, we would set an ambitious but manageable and motivating goal. Then we would break the long-term goal into short-term ones. We would learn from new experiences and adjust our strategy. We would celebrate our victories. And when the result is achieved, we would plan an even more ambitious goal.
So I encourage you to set your goals and reach for your peaks. Starting with the easy ones, you’ll soon enough find yourself motivated to see what the view is like from an even higher point. Because only mountains are better than mountains!
With best wishes for growth,
Dovilė
Your thinking partner online, in France (Savoie), Switzerland (Geneva region)
linkedin.com/in/dovile-rodziute