My last post mentioned telescopes and microscopes - my new favorite metaphors for setting goals. Before I write about refining goals, I had to think about the first steps of setting goals. I had to go back to the fact that before you even set up your telescope, you are looking at the darkness.
The darkness is scary. It's full of unknowns and variables and obstacles that you can't see. It's also full of sparks of light and hope and places you'd never think you'd be. In order to bring the stars into focus, you dig the telescope out of the attic and set out to the back yard. You dust it off and aim the mirrors and out of the corner of the lens you notice the craters of the moon, the rings of Saturn or Jupiter's Red Spot. And when you catch a glimpse of it, it's exciting and beautiful and enormous and wee all at the same time.
And you shout into the darkness: THERE IT IS!
This year I'm shouting:
There's IRONMAN FRANCE!
There's IMNC/B2B!
B2B 2014
There's a sub-five-hour marathon in an ironman!
There is my 500th subscriber to my blog!
Get out your telescope. What do you see out there? What is your dream? What are you shouting into the darkness? Are they hills? Mountains? Are they crazy? Once you see them, you can start the next step.
I'LL GO CRAZY IF I DON'T GO CRAZY TONIGHT by U2
Oh, it's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
Let's shout into the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we're gonna go crazy, you know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy, if we don't go crazy tonight