As we were ascending the mountains of Park City on the chair lift, my husband eagerly announced that since the New Year is approaching, he’d like for us to talk about our 2009 goals. Suddenly instead of seeing the snow-laden evergreens and aspens, I was seeing all the things I intended to do, be, and have before turning forty this next year. Owning that house in San Francisco with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, finally having those toned arms just like the woman on our refrigerator, figuring out how I can contribute more to others, including my twelve nieces and nephews in California, Washington, Florida, and Wisconsin, and learning how to write, save, and savor more.
As we reached the top of the lift, we prepared ourselves to get off the lift gracefully—board up, no clothing connecting to the chair, and visualizing an easy descent off the lift. As I successfully glided off the steep ledge, I couldn’t help but remember the first time I attempted this on a snowboard. As I lay on the ground with my nose in the snow, regretting that I didn’t put on my padded shorts that morning, the lift operator stopped the lift and ran to my side to make sure I was okay. I was fine and quickly decided that my new goal was to conquer the chairlift descent on a snowboard. I accomplished this goal quickly—only after a few more falls.
Why can’t all goals be this easy to accomplish? There are seemingly easy goals to accomplish, like getting off the lift successfully but then there are those bigger, longer term, daunting goals that we never quite seem to accomplish year over year. We cut and paste the same goal from our 2008 life planning worksheet onto the new 2009 worksheet. I have accomplished a lot in my “almost forty” years, but a goal around having more effective financial systems has made the cut to my goal list every New Year’s day.
I think there is a cost and payoff to every action, especially with our goals. We think it’s costing us not to accomplish our goals, but in reality, there’s a huge payoff. As my friend often says when I’m complaining about minor issues in my life, “You need to climb bigger mountains!” Once you lose weight, get your finances in order, or finally write that book, you’re going to have to climb bigger mountains. For example, when I finally get a better financial system, I will have to focus more on investing and learning more about topics that don’t necessarily interest me. I will know exactly what’s in my budget so it will also make it a little more difficult to buy those cute, new gray suede boots. My friend, who has been trying to lose weight for years, realized that she hides behind her weight. If she loses it, she will have to confront other issues about her own self-esteem and confidence that were merely secondary issues to her extra weight.
If we truly commit to our goals, we’re also committing to climbing bigger mountains. When we realize that climbing those mountains will ultimately take us to the bigger vision we have for ourselves, it will be easier to confront the fears and anxieties that will appear along the way. I have learned several lessons over the years about “goal climbing.” Since I’ve been snowboarding for the past two weeks, I couldn’t resist integrating the mountains and snow into these lessons.
Get up again after you fall. Even when my knees, butt, and calves hurt, I strap my board back on, eager to improve next time. I try to understand what I didn’t do or did do so I can improve next time. I may focus on just one thing to improve, like keeping my knees bent. Action: When you haven’t accomplished something, take a step back and figure out what you could’ve done differently. Perhaps the goal is too big and you need to break it down into smaller steps. I finally broke down my financial project into five major areas, each of which is one project. Since every project has manageable steps that clearly lead me to my end goal, I’m more excited about mastering this area in 2009.
