Visualizing and Verbalizing Goals

The difference between and dream and a goal is a plan. Dr. Phil McGraw recently spoke these words and they are so true. It got me thinking about how much my life has changed since I did my collage.

Verbalizing and visualizing my goals were the first steps in formulating my plan. Until I was faced with those two tasks, I couldn't have really told you what my goals were, much less what plan I had to get there.

It's like writing a good outline for a paper before you sit down to write the paper itself. In fact, it's like anything in life. You don't start painting without planning for the tools you'll need. You don't go out to play baseball without a ball, bat, and glove. So why do we more often than not treat our most intimate goals with less than that type of forethought? Just like writing, painting, or playing baseball, without that planning and forethought, we are destined to fall short of our goals or even fail to get started in the first place. We become dreamers instead, hoping for a change, but with no real direction.

I'm so thankful to have learned that lesson through Spark People. Because of it, I've been able to strive toward my goals in a way that would not have been possible before. Before, my goal was some arbitrary number on a scale. Imagine running a cross-country race when you don't know the path and can't find the finish line. Talk about confusion and frustration! Where would you even begin? That's where I was.

Thanks to Spark People, I'm visualizing and verbalizing my goals...developing a plan...and supporting me along the way!