I Can See the Finish Line from Here

We have reached the last month of the year.  Many people take time off during this month, whether because they need to use up their vacation time or to spend with their families.  However, the one thing we should not take a vacation from is reaching our goals!  “Yeah, but, Wayne…”  No yeah buts.  If you are close to hitting your goal, why would you quit when you are so close?  Have not started yet, you still have time to begin, or, at least get a jump-start on next year.

Look, in 2015, I had what I thought were achievable goals.  When we got to September, I said, I still have time and put off taking them seriously.  I did not take my goals seriously.  I did not focus on what I wanted to achieve.  A simple goal was not easy for me to achieve, and why?  I could have easily balled up my hand and stuck out my index finger, pointed at any number of things in my life, made excuses and passed the blame onto anyone or anything besides myself.  Hard lesson – that finger only could point back to me.  If my goals were to be achieved, it was up to me and only me.  I cannot give examples of where I could have placed the blamed, because that would mean I thought about it.  But, nope, it was my fault, my non-focus, my lack of diligence that caused my failure.

Fast forward to now.  I came across Tim Ferris’ book, The 4-hour Workout.  The book did not focus on just diet, it did not focus on just exercise, but made the point of transforming oneself, taking responsibility and finding an accountability partner.  12 months after reading the book, during which time I have read 30+ other books, I find that I am once again read The 4-hour Workout.  Why?  I want to finish the year strong by being re-inspired.  I want to finish the year to make sure that I am still focused on my goals.  I want to finish the year finding out if I missed something of value, as they say we do not retain everything we read the first go around.  And, most importantly, as close as I am to where I wanted to be, I want to do everything I can to achieve and possibly surpass my original objective.

There is 1 month, or, 31 days until we reach the finish line.  In front of us is the holiday season, which are merely hurdles in our path that we need to navigate, jumping over them (or going around) while keeping our eyes straight ahead on the tape spanning the end of our paths.  Join me in the sprint towards the end…and I will see you at the finish line.