Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Hannah More
The quote above is one that is applicable to everyone in a myriad of situations. Weather you are working towards a corporate goal or a personal goal, there always seems to be something or someone that takes on the role of being your obstacle. Being aware of an obstacle is a good thing. Seeing it keeps us from tripping over it. However, when we begin to focus on the obstacle instead of the goal, the obstacle becomes more and more daunting until it seems to consume all of our energy and we loose sight of our original goal. Why do we set goals in the first place? Is it not because we have a desire to do the task at hand? Why then do we take our eyes off the prize? Sometimes ti is because we set goals that are unrealistic. Sometimes it is because we let others influence our decisions. Sometimes it is because our lives change before our goals are met. But that does not mean that we should give up on setting goals. It just means that we should modify our goals to meet our new situation.
When I was a little girl, my dad used to play a Floyd Crammer record quite often. On the record was the song ‘Heart and Soul’. I loved to hear that song played on the piano. I begged my parents for a piano. I wanted lessons. I wanted to play that song. My mom and dad bought a piano when I was six and I was enrolled in music lessons the following week. I was so excited. I had it in my mind that the teacher was going to sit me at the piano and show me the notes and I would be playing the song for my proud parents that afternoon. Later - I was so disappointed! I was told that if I practiced hard, I would learn how to read musical notes and the dynamics of piano within about a month. Then my teacher would teach me the basic right-hand version and she would play the left hand with me. I was forced to reset my goal. Instead of playing the song, I first had to learn to read music. After about a month, I reset my goal again. This time, I would learn the right hand of the song. After a short time, I reset my goal again. This time, I earned the left hand of the song. After that, I reset my goal again and I began to practice the song with both hands together. It took a while, but I finally learned to play the song. It was the basic version of the song, and later I reset my goals again as I became more musically advanced and I learned to play a more complicated version of the song. I used this same technique every time I learned a new song. I just have to learn the notes one hand at a time or one stanza at a time. After I accomplish the first part of my goal, I reset it and move on over and over again until I have finally accomplished the thing that I have set my mind to. Sometimes there are obstacles, like the high F key that sticks on my antique piano and causes me to stumble when I play certain songs, but I have the choice to focus on the stuck key or skip it and move on. If I had focused on the stuck key all the time – I would have missed the opportunity to play many beautiful songs that I have really grown to love.
The point to all this is – keep your eye on the goal. Be aware of the obstacles in your path, but only so that you don’t stumble over them. If you have to re-set your goals, it is OK. Don’t give up on them. One song that I learned as a young woman in choir was called ‘Little By Little’. One line in the song says, "If you can’t swim an ocean, them swim a stream. Just remodel your basic scheme. Don’t give up ‘til you’ve reached your dream, and little by little you’re there.” The goals you have set here may seem daunting at first, but they are important and you need to be committed to yourself. Take one step at a time and constantly reset your smaller goals until your bigger ones are reached. When you finally reach your goal, I hope that you will take the skills you have learned and apply them in other areas of your life. Oh - and by the way -
The quote above is one that is applicable to everyone in a myriad of situations. Weather you are working towards a corporate goal or a personal goal, there always seems to be something or someone that takes on the role of being your obstacle. Being aware of an obstacle is a good thing. Seeing it keeps us from tripping over it. However, when we begin to focus on the obstacle instead of the goal, the obstacle becomes more and more daunting until it seems to consume all of our energy and we loose sight of our original goal. Why do we set goals in the first place? Is it not because we have a desire to do the task at hand? Why then do we take our eyes off the prize? Sometimes ti is because we set goals that are unrealistic. Sometimes it is because we let others influence our decisions. Sometimes it is because our lives change before our goals are met. But that does not mean that we should give up on setting goals. It just means that we should modify our goals to meet our new situation.
When I was a little girl, my dad used to play a Floyd Crammer record quite often. On the record was the song ‘Heart and Soul’. I loved to hear that song played on the piano. I begged my parents for a piano. I wanted lessons. I wanted to play that song. My mom and dad bought a piano when I was six and I was enrolled in music lessons the following week. I was so excited. I had it in my mind that the teacher was going to sit me at the piano and show me the notes and I would be playing the song for my proud parents that afternoon. Later - I was so disappointed! I was told that if I practiced hard, I would learn how to read musical notes and the dynamics of piano within about a month. Then my teacher would teach me the basic right-hand version and she would play the left hand with me. I was forced to reset my goal. Instead of playing the song, I first had to learn to read music. After about a month, I reset my goal again. This time, I would learn the right hand of the song. After a short time, I reset my goal again. This time, I earned the left hand of the song. After that, I reset my goal again and I began to practice the song with both hands together. It took a while, but I finally learned to play the song. It was the basic version of the song, and later I reset my goals again as I became more musically advanced and I learned to play a more complicated version of the song. I used this same technique every time I learned a new song. I just have to learn the notes one hand at a time or one stanza at a time. After I accomplish the first part of my goal, I reset it and move on over and over again until I have finally accomplished the thing that I have set my mind to. Sometimes there are obstacles, like the high F key that sticks on my antique piano and causes me to stumble when I play certain songs, but I have the choice to focus on the stuck key or skip it and move on. If I had focused on the stuck key all the time – I would have missed the opportunity to play many beautiful songs that I have really grown to love.
The point to all this is – keep your eye on the goal. Be aware of the obstacles in your path, but only so that you don’t stumble over them. If you have to re-set your goals, it is OK. Don’t give up on them. One song that I learned as a young woman in choir was called ‘Little By Little’. One line in the song says, "If you can’t swim an ocean, them swim a stream. Just remodel your basic scheme. Don’t give up ‘til you’ve reached your dream, and little by little you’re there.” The goals you have set here may seem daunting at first, but they are important and you need to be committed to yourself. Take one step at a time and constantly reset your smaller goals until your bigger ones are reached. When you finally reach your goal, I hope that you will take the skills you have learned and apply them in other areas of your life. Oh - and by the way -
I never became a great pianist. But I have a great love and appreciation for the instrument and I still play. To this day that same old antique piano that I practiced upon when I was a kid, sits in my living room. I still play 'Heart and Soul' but now I am teaching it to my two year old.
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