Our Boat Trouble Can Help You Reach Your Goals

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “the best two days of a boat owner’s life are the day they buy the boat and the day they sell it.” Well, we don’t necessarily agree at this point, because we’ve had lots of wonderful times in the past two years on our old, but “new to us” pontoon boat. However, we’ve had our moments of trouble. And this latest one, may actually help you reach your goals.

Word of the Year

How could that be possible? It starts with my word of the year actually. At the end of last year, I knew I would be closing my brick & mortar scrapbook store in January of the new year. I realized my life would be taking a whole new direction and carefully considered what my word for the next year should be. After much thought, deliberation, and prayer, I ended up with “propel” as my word for this new year.

Half-way Mark

If you follow any social media at all, I’m sure you’ve seen lots of comments and posts about doing a mid-year checkup as we are in the month of June. Not necessary for me, I thought, since I have this great word of the year and am moving forward on one of my big goals for the year, i.e. this blog. But then, as life would have it, we had boat trouble.

Treading Water

So, picture a lovely, sunny, ‘life is good’ kind of day out on the water; and then – in the middle of the lake – the boat stops moving. But wait, the motor is running; yet the boat is completely at a stand-still in the water. How is that possible? Trust me, it is. After having it towed back, being damaged in the process, and waiting for repairs; it dawned on me. This boat trouble is so similar to me trying to reach my goals. My word of the year might be the best word I’ve ever come up with. But if I don’t think through steps and have an action plan in place to “propel” my goals forward, then what good is that word? I can visualize myself moving forward with my goals, but if I’m not taking the appropriate action, I’m at a stand-still with achieving them.

Does Busy Equal Progress?

Just as a boat with a great motor is of little value without a working propeller; all the goals in the world will get us nowhere, if we don’t make a plan. So how about you – do you have a goal you are working on? Do you have a word of the year? Maybe now really is a great time to check your progress. If you are busy with all sorts of activities – ask yourself if they are moving you closer to your goal. Or are they just items to check off in that cute little list in your planner to make yourself feel like you’re taking action? If those actions don’t help you reach your goals, are they really worth your time? This post can be of help if you need to get your day in order: https://yourlifeinjournals.com/morning-routine/

Does It Matter?

This boat trouble was a great reminder for me that goals need to be broken down into smaller steps, and then those steps need to be taken one by one. Don’t allow someone or some thing to sidetrack you into busy work, or to a totally different issue than what you’re aiming for. Stay the course. Focus. If you need help with goal setting, either of Hal Elrod’s books are a great place to start: https://halelrod.com Remember, just because you are busy doesn’t necessarily mean you are moving in the right direction, or moving at all toward your goal. Our little boat motor was working as hard as it could, but without a good propeller, it didn’t matter. Make sure your actions matter, so they help you reach your goals.