Obstacles

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals."

I just got this quote sent to me from joesgoals.com. I've read it before and I used to agree with it. But isn't life and goals more like driving a car, where you should be scanning the horizon for obstacles in case you might one day smack into one?

Picture this: you're climbing a mountain. The peak is almost straight up, so that's where you're looking (if you're not taking your eyes off your goals) so you smack right into a boulder and shatter your kneecap and are sidelined for the rest of the season. "Why didn't I see that coming?" you ask. Well because you were so focused on your goals that you didn't pay attention to what was going on around you. Maybe if you were scanning the horizon for obstacles while occasionally looking up at your goal to be sure you were still on the right track- you'd still be well on your way to the top of the mountain.

So really, you should see those obstacles. Look for them, scan the horizon and plan accordingly. If you saw something laying in the middle of the road while driving, would you wait until the last second to go around it, or would you start to go around maybe 20ft ahead of time? If you can't see the obstacles (you're going around a tight turn) maybe you should plan for them anyway. As you go around that turn (a point in time where for some reason you're hoping everything will go right) slow down in case there's a bear (or moose) crossing in the turn. Plan ahead. Have a way out or an "escape route".

My little stroke of genious for the day... my job here is done.