66 homes as a rookie, and I focused on the 19 I missed. A marathon in 5:30:16, and I focused on the 16 seconds. On measuring progress, not the gap.
Have you ever set a big goal... and then felt disappointed because you didn't quite hit it? Or find yourself thinking about where you think you should be in life and feeling bad about it?
Me too.
My first year in real estate, I set a goal to sell 85 homes.
I "only" sold 66. 😂
Read that again...Only 66….like really not many people do that and yet I went to the gap.
A few years later, I decided to run a marathon even though I had never been a runner and definitely hadn't trained the way I should have. My goal was to finish in 5 hours and 30 minutes.
My friend and I crossed the finish line in 5 hours, 30 minutes, and 16 seconds.
Sixteen seconds and instead of celebrating the fact that I had just completed a marathon, my mind immediately focused on the 16 seconds.
How ridiculous does that sound?
Yet so many of us do this every day.
It wasn't until I read The Gap and The Gain by Dan Sullivan that something finally clicked.
We spend so much of our lives measuring ourselves against where we think we should be instead of appreciating how far we've already come.
The goal isn't the point, it’s simply a target that gives you direction.
The real win is who you become while pursuing it.
If you've read any of my blogs, you know I come back to this idea often because I truly believe life is about becoming.
The discipline you build.
The confidence you gain.
The resilience you develop.
The habits you create.
The person you become & the impact you make.
That's the reward.
Goals are funny because they're moving targets. The moment you reach one, you're already dreaming about the next one. If your happiness is always tied to the next milestone, the next goal, you'll spend your life chasing fulfillment instead of experiencing it.
So today, here's your reminder: Celebrate your progress. Look back six months. A year. Five years.
Notice how much you've learned.
How much you've overcome.
How much you've grown.
Happiness isn't found at the finish line, it's found in progress.
Keep dreaming big & setting goals that stretch you. Keep mastering the small, often boring habits that allow you to become and achieve whatever it is you want out of life.
And like that one Miley Cyrus song I love listening to when I am feeling defeated: “Ain’t about how fast I get there / Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side / It’s the climb.”
There will always be another mountain, the goal was never just to reach the top, the goal was to become a person capable of climbing it.
Keep Climbing, Keep Becoming, Keep Celebrating the Small Wins!
Onward & upwards,
Your Friend Tara Allen
From the Vault: If this hit home, you'll love If It's To Be, It's Up to Me.
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