Daunting

Goal Attainment: Self- published Novel of mine titled “The Death of Love.” Baby steps all the time.. learning all the time.. that’s the way to constantly progress and grow.

Have you ever taken on a task that was so daunting that it caused you some sleepless nights? How about a task that looked super cool as an end result but the steps to get there were chasm- deep?

 

Back in the 90’s I teamed up with a couple guys on a project that would see us cycle from Northern Alberta towards Rio for the Earth Summit.. of 1992 to be exact. Oh- and we were to meet up with a fourth cyclist somewhere in Arizona.. along one of the interstates.

For some, a non- specific meeting point might be troublesome.. for me it was the way Steve and I did things. Like when I went up to San Francisco and he sat at the corner of Haight and Ashbury waiting for me with an obscure and oblique sign. My flight was late.. and I ended up coming in to a southern port.. which meant I had to cycle all the way in to the city (it was SO MUCH FUN.. seriously) and then I had to find the intersection. I knew I was on track when I was riding downhill on Clarendon (my grandmothers old street name in Ottawa). She showed me the direction.

At any rate, the two I rode with had End Goal in sight only. They didn’t see the thousands of kilometers they would have to cycle. And I didn’t realize they weren’t really cyclists. So they got dejected and wanted to turn around at about Bozeman, Montana. And so they did.

I would have pressed further forward as I knew Steve was on the horizon.. and meeting up with him would be elating.. and we would be on a route of higher populations allowing for greater fund raising efforts (Montana and Central Alberta was slim pickens)… BUT- the two I was with essentially blackmailed me in to turning around and heading back with them. I had the credit card.. so I had the money.. they needed the money to get home. So I stuck with them.. even through the retreat.

From the very beginning of that project I knew there would be insurmountable obstacles.. but I was ready to take them on.

Goal Success- I was given a dozen bikinis for models I knew to wear during an unspecified photo session.. I invited a custom motorcycle company in for the shoot at an unspecified location.. then I solicited the volunteer use of a BackLot (closed film/ video production area that looks like a city street) for a day and it all came together.. for a full day of fun and photography.

With Ocean Cyclist.. I see the end result and yeah, it is sometimes daunting in that the task of pedalling a boat around the world is.. well, nobody would find it a simple task. It is a daunting task. And sometimes That Task overshadows.. much like the cornice hangs over the small Swiss village.. the present tense needs and tasks.

The other day I wrote down the immediate goals for this summer.

Prior to writing those goals I knew what I wanted to achieve as an end result.. and I knew that I needed AUDIENCE to make it happen so I was kinda fixated on doing things that would increase the audience.

Now.. I see two clear tasks that I have to acomplish this summer- first being cutting a hole in Boat #2 and making it water tight so I can install the pedal drive and gear system.. Task Two is similar but a bit larger in scope- finish the cockpit flooring and increase the sidewall height of Boat #1 so that I can cut a hole in her hull and make it watertight.. to install the pedal drive there, as well.

So.. not really a lot of work. But decided and important steps. 

Doing The Little Steps will help to attain Goal Success. Sometimes I forget that 😉