Goals as a Roadmap

I love to travel. I love to travel by plane, train and any other vehicle that can take me to beautiful places. Road trips are especially fun. I have many fond memories of taking trips by car. When I take a trip, there is one thing that has always helped me get to the places I wanted to go. A map showed me the way. If I hadn’t had the map, I don’t know how I would have reached my desired destination. Even on trips that I had been on before, it was helpful to look at the map to be sure I was heading the right direction down the right road.
So, how do we travel on our health journey? We still use a map.

I like to compare goals to a roadmap. Think about it: A map shows us the picture of the area we will be traveling through. Goals show is the steps we want to take as we move through life. If you get lost, you can look at your map to determine where you are. If you are lost in life, you can revisit your goals to determine if you are on track or not. If your trip brings you to a fork in the road, a map can help you decide which road to take. And of course, if you have a question as to which direction you want to go in life, your goals can help you determine what you really want and what you will pursue.

You’ve heard me stress the importance of goals. In fact, my clients here about goals (and tell me about theirs!) every time we talk. Why are goals so important? Not only to they give us something to shoot for, but they also help guide us along the path toward the end goal or destination. Goals can help us test our current progress. Are we on track? Are we headed where we want to be headed? Without goals, it is difficult to answer these questions. With goals, it is easy to know where you are going and they make it much easier to get there.