My friend Sally says, “I was not stimulated by anything else but my journey goals. They were the ones that I felt I would really make me focus , make some sacrifices, change my thinking, take flak, be ridiculed etc. The others would be expected of me.” 

The other goals she’s talking about are our bucket list goals.  These are the things we want to do throughout our lives.  Visiting Paris was great.  Walking on an active volcano in Hawai’i was terrifying and glorious.  I have the lava cut scar on my hand as a permanent souvenir.  Finishing a marathon (quite a long time ago…) was a physically grueling test.  As wonderful as each of these accomplished goals was, they didn’t do what a Journey did.  They didn’t require enough of me to change me.

A Journey goal requires my own skin in the game.  As Sally said, I have to change how I think.  I have to risk that others will change how they think about me.  Yikes!

Maybe for you, a physical test like a marathon is a Journey.  Maybe a trip alone to a long longed-for city is a Journey for you.  You decide.

You can also decide to take a goal and make sure it is a Journey. Use the stages of the Hero’s Journey to move you along.  Your skin is on the line when you’re on a Journey. Your Hero’s Journeys will get done, and your goal get done, too.

Photo by: https://unsplash.com/@timtrad