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The humble bee knows what it needs to do. It doesn’t need to think about it at all.

At the grand old age of… (nearly 50), I am quite late to the party. I’ve always been pretty ambitious. Probably more ambitious than many people who know me realise. My ambition has been fortunate though. I never seemed to reach my full potential. I always felt I could achieve more. Don’t we all feel like this at times?

I never used to really set goals, I never really had a plan or strategy to get to where I wanted to go. I had a vague idea on the destination but lacked the visualisation. You see a vague idea is fine, I guess. I suppose that is a goal, but it’s not going to drive you.

There are times for a bee when it seems there is plenty, it’s all right there for the taking.

A dream or a goal is fine, but just having that is not going to get you there. I don’t even mean you have to have a super dream or goal. It might just be ‘to be happy’. That seems simple enough? Is it?

Write it down!

Now be it!

Easy right?

Didn’t think so. So what have I learned on my [nearly] fifty year journey? It’s taken a while, but I’ve learned that to achieve any goal, you need to analyse it, find out more about it. Break it down into bite size chunks and tackle each chunk one at a time. Make a strategy and a time line that you can work towards. Be realistic and have honesty with yourself. Don’t just pick a goal because, well, someone else has it or you think it’s what is expected. Have your own goals, set them, really analyse them. How can you achieve them?

Breaking them down into chunks, is the first step. Now comes the really hard part…

Do them.

As Lao Tzu said, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”, and it’s true. Also some goals will feel more like a thousand mile journey too.

There is nothing quite as exciting as reaching a goal that has taken you time to achieve.
Life is so full of distractions that it can be difficult to see what is truly important.

At almost 50, you might think I would have a better idea about life. Certainly I can say I have experience. I have a whole heap of experiences. Some good, in fact lots good, some bad and some just…meh!

In this I am no different to anyone, in this we are all united. I used to be comforted by being so busy. It used to make me feel like I was becoming better at things, at life, at work. I was progressing for sure, but was I getting better?

One of the most important things I have learnt in recent months is that we owe ourselves some time for us. We need to be able to look at our situation in the silence and contemplate what really is important to us. Prioritisation is perhaps one of the most important things we should do for us and it must be honest. Making these decisions in and around the busy day at work or the frantic home life is very difficult, almost impossible.

You need to find your own method, but the first step is to make the time. I try to meditate for 10 mins a day in the morning. I don’t make it every day though. I try to exercise for 30 mins every day, but not always. I write down what I’m thinking about. I am better now at planning my following day and better at sticking to it (I will cover this in a later blog). I’m not perfect though. I still make mistakes and think I always will.

I am better when I find the time to evaluate what has gone on, put it into perspective and decide where things sit on the importance scale, the REAL importance scale, because I find we tend to put too much at the top of this scale that leads to distraction, confusion and ultimately failure.

What is important to you? Well my friend, only YOU can answer that and only YOU can give yourself the time to answer that. If I have one piece of advice though. Don’t always expect an easy answer. It can take time to get to the truth…

If only our lives allowed us the single mindedness of the bee.