Too often people enter a new year with optimism and hope only to quickly become overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy as the goals slip through their fingers day after day.
 
These people who have the courage to set a goal and are committed to Being Better Today but end up succumbing to frustration and trade in their excitement for disappointment can be divided into two camps:

• Those who focus on the future state
• Those who focus on the actions in front of them

 
The Future State
In one of my first blog articles,  I wrote about the visionary who focuses so much on the future that they failed to see the actions that needed to occur right in front of them. They see the picture that they want to paint and focus on the frame they will put it in, and paint the room where they will hang it, and rearrange the furniture to make sure the painting is highlighted.
 
But they never pick up the brush. They never took the time to prepare and learn how to depict shadows and blend colors. They didn’t purchase the right brushes or easels required to actually paint the picture.
 
Focus on Actions
Then you have the people that spend all their time focused on the actions directly in front of them. They take a Bob Ross painting class to learn how to create happy trees. They buy all the latest how-to-books, they begin converting a room to be a studio and they outfit it with all the latest and greatest equipment needed. They get watercolors, acrylics, pencil, chalk… because they are not sure what they are really wanting to paint.
 
They stay busy doing a little bit of everything. Half-finished paintings are stacked up against the wall. Crumpled papers litter the floor with incomplete drawings. They are spending a lot of energy and time but also are no closer to their ideal picture because they don’t have a clarity to what they actually desire for their picture.
 
Finding the Balance by Defining the Journey
If you are tired of not achieving your annual goals, then you need to start by changing YOUR behavior. You don’t have to make drastic changes, but there are two things you must do if any journey is going to be successful.

1. Know exactly where you are starting from
2. Have a clear picture (understanding) of where you are going

 
If you want to go from Point A to Point B, well, you better know what Point B looks like or how will you know when you get there? You could wander in the wilderness searching for an elusive place that you will never find. Or you could be one step away from achieving your goal, but since you hadn’t defined it accurately, you had no idea you were almost there.
 
Define Your Point B
Take the time to define your future state or your Point B, first, and do so using future terms.
In my future state:
“I weigh 185 lbs. and finished the annual Turkey Trot 5k without walking at any stage.”
 
“I shared my published book on ‘The Use of Millennial Slang by Gen X Dads’ to all of my family members and friends as a Christmas present.”
 
When you use the future state to define your goal it reinforces in your mind that you can and will achieve it and it provides real clarity to what success looks like. It is 185 lbs. It is by the Turkey Trot. The book is published by Christmas.
 
Define Your Point A
Now that you have Point B defined, it’s time for the hard truth and self-reflection of where you currently reside. Take off the rose-colored glasses, remove the filter from your selfie app.  Where are you now?
 
How much do you weigh? How active are you? What is your diet? What habits contribute to your current state? What do you need to Keep, Start and Stop doing?
 
Do you know anything about Millennial Slang? Have you created an outline for a book? Do you even like to write?
 
Even though you learned in school that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, life is NOT a geometry problem. The reality is that there is an infinite number of paths that take you from Point A to Point B. The great news is that ANY path can get you there. The bad news is that it is easy to get lost if you don’t have a good map.
 
Creating a Map by Working Backwards
They say hindsight is 20/20 because you can look back at your steps and see how you made it to where you are today. That doesn’t mean it was the BEST path, only that it was A path that got you there. 
 
But the concept holds true. Work your way backwards from that future state by asking questions to provide clarity.
Q: “What needs to happen for me to run a 5k without stopping?
A: Well, I need to lose weight and increase my stamina.
 
Q: “How can I increase my stamina?
A: Combine jogging and walking until I am only jogging.
 
Q: “What’s the best way to do that?”
A: Download a Couch to 5k app and begging using today.
 
At some point, I will come back to point A, where I am today, and it will meet up with my current ability to walk a 5k.
 
This is my path!
 
Now, identify the milestones that you will use to measure your progress. When you compare this to the timeline, is it realistic? Do you need to find a different path, or do you need to adjust your goal?
 
What potential obstacles exist that could cause you to stumble or lose your way? What alternate routes exist for you to make sure you stay on your journey to achieve your goal?
 
If you want to have success on your journey, you need to know where you are and where you are going. Yes, it sounds simple, but when you reflect on those times you failed to hit past goals, where did you stumble? Had you defined your path clearly?
 
The journey of life is not a straight line but a pathway full of potential. Having a well understood map that highlights various paths as well as potential obstacles, will enable you to navigate through the tough times that you will face. The probability of successfully navigating your journey is dramatically increased when you start with your future state and work backwards, to get Beyond Today.