Don’t Confuse Your Goal Post With Your Post Goal Plan

Post Goal Plan

Goals are a beautiful thing.  They are the peak of the mountaintop, the last luscious seconds of an unobtainable dream, and the vision that keeps us striving daily.  Although without goals we are nothing, there is a particular danger in clearing one’s visual field of all else.  As I mentioned before, there are actually two, if not many more, paths at the end of each journey.  In the past I have completely focused on arriving and been reluctant to concentrate on the art of being.  My reluctance has often led to the absence of having an adequate post goal plan.

I dare say that the post goal plan is as important, if not more so, than the goal itself.

How, you say, could this be  true?  Let me give a few examples

On Becoming A Doctor

I have wanted to be a doctor as far back as I can remember.  It has been the one consistent guiding principle throughought my early years.  No matter how I struggled with my learning disability, or with classes, there was never a doubt that I would make it.

Medical education was rigorous and exhausting.  Residency took my last ounce of strength and resiliency.  Upon finishing with my internal medicine training, I was thrust into the world of practicing medicine with no clue which way was up, and which way was down.

I had spent so much energy just achieving doctorhood,  and hadn’t considered what living that lifestyle really looked like.  Would I work for others?  Would I work for myself?  How much time did I want to commit a week?  What did I expect to get paid for my time?  And furthermore, was the lifestyle I was building consistent with my values?

It took years to realize that I would be happier working for myself.  Years more, to guide my path way from an office and into nursing homes and conference rooms.

It’s not that I regret the years of experiences and growth, It just could have been a smoother ride.

On Financial Independence

I did everything right.  I pumped up my income over the years.  Then I bought rental properties and invested in index funds.  As my net worth kept growing, I was blinded by the shimmering goal ahead, and spent very little time developing a post goal plan.

Can you believe that one moment I was striving towards what seemed like an unobtainable goal, and then the market went crazy?  My melodramatic conversion to financial independence was nothing more than a good day for the Dow.

Then the incomprehensible question came to mind, and I had absolutely no answer.

What Now?

Do I quit my job?  Do I travel the world?

I was so caught up with the goal, that I had no idea what should come next.

And that led to my first months of financial independence being rather depressing instead of triumphant.

On Writing A Book

Writing a book was one of those undercover goals that I admitted to no one.  It flew under the radar screen, shouldered out of the way by my dreams of being a doctor.  It lay dormant during the grueling years of residency, but never disappeared completely.

After I became comfortable in the practice of medicine, I started a blog about how it feels  to be a doctor.  Six hundred blog posts later, I had enough material to write a book.  Two books.

I hired an editor and compiled the information into two manuscripts that I was very proud of.

When I pushed the publish button on createspace, I thought my journey had ended.

And it had, as well as the life of my books.

I had no idea how much work and dedication marketing a manuscript would take.

In the end, my lack of  a reasonable post goal plan made all my work and effort amount to little.

I am thrilled to say I have two completed books.

Two books that no one has ever heard of.

In Summary

Having goals is what drives us to excel.  But true success is often more about what you do after you reach your goal. Don’t let lack of post goal planning spoil your wonderful accomplishments.

Take a moment or to figure out what you want to do once you reach the top of the mountain.