What Direction Are You Going?

I took this picture while at a family reunion near Durango, Colorado and thought it was a nice illustration for this topic.  Do you sometimes wake up on a new day and wonder where you're going in life?  Or whether it's the direction you want to go?  Like Cheshire the cat told Alice in Wonderland when she asked, "which way I ought to go from here?"  He said, "if you don't much care where you want to get to, it doesn't matter which way you go."   Alice told him she didn't much care, "as long as she got somewhere."  Cheshire replied that she was sure to do that if she walked long enough.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to walk this life without knowing where I'm going because I might not like the destination.  We should all have a roadmap in life, just like having a map we take on a road trip.  It's the same with the train in this picture - it has tracks to follow, or it wouldn't get very far.

This all sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?  If it's so simple, I wonder why most people don't do it  (including me for most of my life).  I read recently that 97% of the population do not take the time to set goals.  What's amazing, though, is that if you find someone really successful in life, you'll also find that they are one of the 3% who can recite their goals without hesitation.  

If you know where you're going today, and if you know what you are going to do when you get there, then ask yourself why.  If you can answer that question pretty easily, then ask yourself if your answer satisfies you.  Is it going to satisfy you next year?  What about in five years?  Twenty?  If not, then what other plans do you have to get yourself to the place you want to be?  

These are important things to think about unless you want to be like Alice and not much care where you are going just as long as you "end up somewhere".   If you'd like to have a little more control in determining your destination...you can begin today.