Goals so clear, you can taste them.

This morning, I stood atop of a hill in the Franconian countryside, and though it was gray and overcast, I felt inspired. Suddenly, as if it drifted to me on the currents of the soft breeze, I thought, 

“I am responsible for this view. I created this canvas. Me being right here, right now, is the culmination of a series of decisions and some extreme determination. Even that furry black dog happily pouncing towards me is living proof of how my doggedness helped me to reach goals”. 

On the way home, I reflected on my recent obsession with my failures, and my inability to recognize my successes for what they are. Then I systematically began to review some of my main successes in life, even the ones we too often take for granted. 

Starting from the view of the rolling Franconian hills and working backwards, at one time, each - and I do mean EACH - of the below goals seemed unachievable, but I stuck with it, anyway. And now, they belong on the list of my successes. It may not seem like much, but to me, they're gold. And it's time for me to stop trivializing them. 

Taking stock: Major goals accomplished

  • Living abroad
  • Having a house to call my own (well, sort of)
  • Jumping out of a plane (bucket list material)
  • Learning a second language well enough to be proficient
  • Rebuilding my career after a nearly decade long hiatus
  • Having a successful pregnancy, surviving childbirth, and becoming a mother
  • Having a dog
  • Learning how to surf (or at least stand on the board)
  • Finding someone who was worth spending nearly two decades with and having kids with
  • Traveling "overseas"
  • Getting my first job out of college
  • Finishing college
  • Becoming an adult and turning 21
  • Traveling abroad
  • Getting into college
  • Finishing high school
  • Learning how to drive a car
  • Learning an instrument (drums/percussion)
  • Staying up for longer than 30 seconds on waterskis (which admittedly took me years), then a wakeboard
  • Getting over my first heartbreak
  • Recovering from a bad bicycle accident
  • Adapting to a new school and new friends

  • Learning how to ride a bike

    and even

  • Learning how to walk

Have you ever listed all of your major successes? It’s empowering, because it says, 
“IF YOU ARE NOT REACHING YOUR GOALS, IT’S NOT BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT CAPABLE.
IT’S BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN INDECISIVE.” 

And when we learned to walk: Did we want anything as much as we wanted that? NO! That was the #1 goal in life at that time. We had no distractions.

So my mission now is to set goals so clear that I can literally taste them. More specifically, I’ll write them on a mirror, read them out loud every day, and make them a top priority. And most importantly, I will strive to never, EVER doubt myself. To make it even more concrete, I'm going to begin by committing to 21 days, since that's the minimum amount of time it takes to build positive habits (for more on setting healthy habits, I recommend James Clear's informative blog post). 

Care to tackle this challenge with me? If so, shoot me an email or drop me a line in comments. 

Allow me to end with one of my favorite mottos of all time, from Adidas. It may be the most powerful three word combination ever. 

“Impossible is nothing.” 

Spot on.

Liz KraftLiz Kraft