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I've traveled quite a bit. Both in-country and overseas.
I can't tell you how many times people commented to me about how expensive it must be to travel so much, saying something along the lines of "it must be nice" to have so much free time and money to travel.
Anytime I hear those kinds of comments I think, "I don't have any more time than they do, and I certainly don't have more money than most. I just make different choices with how I spend my time and money."
I don't have a big, beautiful, modern house. I don't have an expensive vehicle. I don't own a side-by-side, boat, camper, four-wheeler, or jet ski. I don't have a second home, hunting camp or cottage. I purposefully seek to keep my utility bills low. I don't buy a new phone every year. I don't eat out too often and I have used the same crossbody bag as a purse for at least five years.
Traveling is important to me. It gives me new perspectives, teaches me about the world, and provides me with adventures. Adventures and continuous learning are important to me. Since those are my goals, I make choices accordingly.
I also don't want to live in debt. Because of these goals, I choose to spend money accordingly, in ways that bring me closer to my goals of travel, adventure, and experiences before I spend it on things like new kitchen cabinets.
If I didn't align my choices with my travel goals, I might never have those experiences that are important to me. Deciding that I want to travel isn't enough. Would I magically be whisked away to Iceland on someone else's dime if all I did was make the decision that I wanted to go? No. It requires choices to get there, like saving money, working it into my schedule, and sacrificing other things that wouldn't get me to that goal.
What goal do you have in mind? Go back to school. Start a family. Move to the country. Move to the city. Get married. Run a half marathon. Buy a camper. Travel to Australia. Renovate the kitchen. Whatever your goal is, once you have set it, the next question is, "now what?"
Once you make a choice, progress doesn't happen on its own. It requires action. The most impactful or life-changing goals require a consistent series of actions over time.
If you choose to eat a popsicle for dessert, the choices to reach that goal are simple compared to a goal with much higher stakes, like starting your own business.
How can you stay accountable to your goal and the choices you make to help you reach that goal?
First, continually commit to the decision. I tell my leadership coaching clients that if they desire to be a great leader to their team, they must choose to be a good leader every day, and sometimes multiple times a day. It takes effort, not just a dream, to be a good leader. The same is true in your personal life. Choose your goal every day. Remember your goal with every choice.
Next, recognize that your big choices must be supported by a series of little choices. For example, when you choose to adopt a healthier lifestyle, it takes hundreds of consistent choices to get there. You choose to park further from the door, get up an hour earlier to exercise, swap traditional dessert for fruit, or switch to black coffee. The success of your goals is really in the little choices you make every day.
Finally, protect your decision by setting boundaries against distractions and competing priorities. For example, if you've made the decision to drink less alcohol, you can set a boundary for yourself that instead of going out with friends and having alcohol, choose non-alcoholic options.
View your ongoing choices as the alignment required to stay on track. If you own a vehicle and want it to be dependable for many years, you make choices to keep it aligned with that goal, like changing the oil and rotating the tires regularly, getting an alignment, replacing parts as needed, and keeping it clean inside and out. All these choices make it more likely that your vehicle will last longer and have greater value when it's time to replace it.
That's exactly how your choices work in other areas of your life. When you know the goal, you can make choices that make it more likely you will reach your goal. You align your actions with the desired result.
Start choosing differently today and you'll realize that achieving your goals is more realistic than you once thought.