Now that the brute force of midterm season is out of the way, I have had the time to focus on myself again. If you know me, you know that I prefer to spend my time and energy challenging myself and seeking out making myself a stronger person, day after day. Whether it be taking on a new online course in Machine Learning for Python or learning to perfect at least one intricate South Indian dish that my mom prepares, I always have a bow and arrow loaded to release on my next target. The next best thing for me isn’t what I should become; it is what I can become.
The way I layout my goals in life, whether long term or short term — deciding a goal, laying out the milestones, and overcoming a challenge — is similar to that of decorating a blank white room with a small house plant or any décor of your interest!
A Blank White Room: You
Let’s start with the overall environment you are in. The blank white room, maybe your bedroom, is representative of who you are as a person. You are a blank canvas that can be painted, shaped, and adorned in multiple ways. But as always, you have control over what you are capable of doing to your blank canvas. You can keep it organized, or you can make it an explosion of color. Whatever you do, you must have a key interest that whatever happens to that room, you acknowledge why it exists in the room. Metaphorically, why a goal means something to your life.
The Nutrient Dense Vase: Finding the ‘Why?’
Before you decide how you’re going to achieve your goals, you need the fundamental motivation that moves you forward. It’s more than the money and the fame that accomplishing the goal can bring. What pleases the soul is what is at the core of your goals. Likewise, we need to have a pot with the nutrients to nurture and support the rose plant before we plant it.
The vase with potting soil represents the what that really moves your goal to challenge you. Is it happiness? Is it more sleep? Is it feeling more energetic? This vase represents the elements of your goal that are invaluable to your person once you overcome the challenge — no money can buy them.
The Nutrients: Milestones
As you plant the seed for the new plant to your nutrient dense vase, you need to make certain that your plant gets all the appropriate sunlight and water. These elements in taking care of your plant are similar to setting up milestones for your goals. You will set up mini goals within your large goal to accomplish. You will not be able to run a marathon overnight. On day one, you might just be able to run one mile. But for the next three days, you try to build endurance by adding 0.5 miles to the previous day’s run. Slowly, you will reach one day where you can run the full marathon!
Full Bloom! Take Care.
After a couple weeks of proper care and nutrition, the plant has grown into a beautiful rose plant with a couple buds fully bloomed. You can adore it for a few days, but that’s it. The joy and beauty of that rose wilts over time and the plant makes a new start for a new budding.
When you finally accomplish your goal, if it is running the marathon on Saturday or getting a certificate that you are skilled in Machine Learning, you will feel whole inside. All the hard work, persistence, and endurance paid off! However, goals are not something you can check off and put aside. The only way to admire your persistence is to always take care of those accomplishments. Getting the certificate is not worthwhile to your value; you will need to practice those skills regularly to make yourself a stronger programmer. Maybe you won’t run marathons regularly, but you will still need to run a couple miles every day to maintain your health.
Again, consider your goals as a way to build your identity and how you decorate your blank room. Think of them as a plant that grows and amplifies the beauty in your room. You care for them like you care for yourself, adding more nutrients and cropping them as necessary so they can grow even better. That’s what goals are like in life. They may have a said purpose for a slice in your lifespan, but the ones that shine the brightest are the goals that are achieved and adapted to challenge and strengthen yourself.
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