How to support and reinforce your goals

Prepare the surface

In early August a road crew began work on a stretch of highway connecting our place to the nearest town. Every day, they busied themselves cutting neat squares and rectangles into concrete that had been patched again, and again.

With great effort, the team removed the damaged areas leaving neat holes ready for fresh concrete. As new concrete poured into each cavernous space, crew members smoothed the surface.

As an outsider to the process of road construction, the purpose of taking such great lengths to repair some chasms, but not others made little sense. All I could do was watch and trust that the end result would be worth it.

Eventually, the road crew ground the surface so that little ridges covered the newly-poured and older concrete. Driving on it was like sitting in an old, wooden roller coaster and being jostled back and forth until you finally reach the top of the first drop. You know what’s coming next and the experience is a strange mixture of elation and trepidation.

Deciding what goals to pursue and then laying the groundwork to achieve them is exciting and scary. At times, we doggedly chase our dreams, racing after them and swerving to avoid trash in the road. Sometimes moving around the rubbish is the only way to get where we want to go. Sometimes, we have to drive right over it and hope it doesn’t flatten our tire.

Other times, roadblocks pop up, forcing a detour. But, we discover that the detour adds a new perspective to our journey. It’s a little bothersome, maybe, but still useful. Getting a little sidetracked can actually end up getting us to our goal faster.

People around us can be the rubbish in the way, the roadblock, or the detour. They also can ride shotgun helping us navigate. Whatever their role, it’s up to us to decide what actions to take on the road in front of us. It might be bumpy for a while but given enough time, the ride will become smoother.

Reinforce the foundation

We don’t need to be experts in road construction to understand the importance of laying a good foundation. Without leveling the ground, adding rebar supports, pouring new concrete, and grinding, the last step won’t last.

Anyone who drives wants the final step in the road construction process to last as long as possible. We want it to be permanent, or at the very least, semi-permanent needing only occasional maintenance. Sure, occasional maintenance can be annoying, but it’s better than slamming into potholes you swear could swallow your entire car.

Identifying the steps and potential hazards for each goal we want to pursue prepares the foundation for attaining it. We start by assessing the feasibility of the goal. Do we really believe we can achieve it? If not, then we’re not likely to succeed. This is leveling the ground.

Next, do we have cheerleaders and mentors who can help us along the way? If not, then we need to find those people. They are the rebar.

Are we reading material relevant to our goal? Are we increasing our knowledge base around it? This is the fresh concrete.

Are we putting our newly-acquired knowledge to use? Is it becoming part of our day-to-day life? This is the grinding that helps things bind together.

Resurface

At first, the new road surface is a little stinky. After some time passes, that smell dissipates and the road is smooth. Like all new things, we get used to it. We forget what the old road was like.

Our goals, once achieved, are like this feeling. We might get so comfortable that we can’t recall when we weren’t doing X. It’s part of us now like the newly installed underground pipes diverting water from the road.

But like a resurfaced road needs occasional maintenance so to do our goals. Maybe you have an exercise goal that you’ve achieved, but now you’re bored. What can you do to inject some excitement into the goal?

Injecting a little excitement is like the road cleaner coming along to ensure nothing is in our way, but inadvertently kicking something right out in front of us.

Complacency kills goals.

Paint fresh lines

If we’re traveling on an older road with its dull lines, and the new road is ahead, the first thing we see is the freshly-painted lines. They pop-out on the blacktop. The old lines thwart our navigation, but the promise of those new lines guiding us is comforting.

Goals without consistently clear parameters confuse us. Re-evaluating, re-visiting, and even refreshing our goals keeps our path defined and uncluttered. There’s comfort in this.

Most roads only include a few lines. We all can probably name them without much thought. Too many lines create chaos.

Too many goals do the same thing. Keeping our goals simple, but clearly defined creates order.

Goal construction is road construction, and just as messy, but with long-lasting results. Whether those results are good or bad all depends on the time we take to build the foundation.

Cracks in the foundation was originally published in ardent path journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.