Looking Ahead to the Future

It is always amazing how life thoughts and work thoughts continually cross paths. Without going into too much details we are working on some efforts to review what has been done in the past 5 years as it relates to a particular area of focus that we continue to repeat. What comes out as one consistent problem…

Lack of Vision, lack of strategy and lack of a plan for what done looks like.

These are key to finding success in whatever it is you are looking to accomplish. When I set out to start running, I never knew what I wanted to achieve, but eventually my goal was to break 2 hours on a half marathon, then it was break 100 minutes. It started with a vision of what I wanted to achieve, then a strategy for how I was going to get there, amount of training, eating habits, etc. All these come into play as you set a path to achieve your goal. Too many times we get an idea for what we want to do and start just stabbing at things and working towards it. This is all well and good, but it must come together at some point with a plan and a vision for done.

I’ve worked out consistently for the past 10+ years and I will always workout until I cannot anymore. Currently, I am not trying to meet any major goals and when asked, my simple response is to continue to maintain my health and activity as long as possible. After all God’s word teaches us that our body is the “temple of God.” We should treat it as such so that we can honor him with what I do.

Let me bring this all back now as you embark on your journey. You need to have a vision for what this is going to look like when you are finished, what does the next stage of your life holds for you, what are you plans when you are no longer tied to a 9 to 5 job or whatever that next stage is. Some people will encourage you to create a vision board, something to think about and look towards. This way you can see what that future you is going to look like. What does your future look like? Are you and your spouse on the same page for that future? Take some time to talk about it over dinner, on a walk or whenever. Get together to create a future vision for yourselves.

Now that you have that vision, how are you going to get there? What things are you willing to sacrifice today to get there? Or where do you need to shift focus a little bit to make that vision a reality? Don’t worry, you don’t have to do everything all at once, but you do need to start taking some and keep a focus on that vision.

I recently created a sheet that is focused on paying off the mortgage. Our goal is to pay that off before our last son goes to college. Then our next home will be paid for in cash, never to pay a mortgage payment again. We hung that board up with 30 little blocks to fill in. Underneath each one I put the balance of the mortgage at that point. Now every extra bit we can throw at the mortgage, the closer we can get to our vision for the future.

Are you interested in the Mortgage payoff vision? If so, leave me a comment and I would be happy to send you a copy. Next up, I'm working on a debt payoff vision for my clients to use so they can see what they are working towards. Set your vision and define a strategy for the future and go! Get after it!