DITCH YOUR GOALS. USE WAYPOINTS INSTEAD

Sometimes you just have to let go.

Insights by Troy Flower - Wellteam Founder and CEO.

For most of my life I've been a highly driven person, but this year has been tough. 

I'd write goals every year on January 1st. I'd pursue them with full force and a belief that they must be achieved for me to be successful. 

House, promotion, money, car, business, kids, holidays, relationships, mountain bike championships, running times. 

Here's the thing though. Most of those things can be changed in a heartbeat. None of them are permanent and the only meaning and value they have is what I attach to them. 

They are adjustable, infinitely adjustable. 

This year's been tough. I got hit by a car in February while riding my bike. The accident left me with damaged knees, a broken wrist and far too much inactivity for my liking. 

I was lucky really. It could have been much worse. 

As for my trip back to Nepal, annual running and mountain bike racing objectives... they've had to drop away, perhaps permanently from a running perspective. 

While we can hold on tightly to these aspirations/goals/objectives we have to let them go when winds are not in our favour. 

I've taken to calling my goals "waypoints". I really like the analogy of a waypoint from a sailing perspective. 

A waypoint is something you sail past, it's not a permanent state or destination. It's just a guide as to where you're going. 

You can sail close to a waypoint, it could be a port, harbour or village and sometimes it's a lighthouse. 

Waypoints are guides that give you a sense of direction and purpose, but they are not the end-point. They are flexible. 

If the winds are not in your favour, you simply adjust your sails and move on to the next waypoint. 

If a waypoint is missed on the first pass, you can always loop back when the winds are more favourable. 

Nothing in life is permanent and we're in a constant state of change, adaptation and readjustment. 

My year so far has taught me to adjust my sails, read the winds and rather than expend my energy fighting into a headwind, beating myself up for lack of progress, I'm just taking the breeze over my shoulder. 

Life is amazing. 

It should always be a challenge, just not a fight. 

If the winds are not in your favour, adjust your course, hoist up the mainsail and move on to another waypoint. Use the prevailing conditions to your advantage. 

Nothing in life is permanent. The winds will change, conditions will change. There will be storms, calm seas and beautiful harbours to spend some time in. 

You have only one life.

Life it fully.