I saw it on televised news. I read it in my history books. I’ve done it myself. Individuals and groups push too hard, consume all their resources, and fail to reach their goals. Others made steady progress and suddenly get careless and bet it all only to lose it all. Then there are those who do not commit enough effort, time, and resources to their dreams. They languish and settle on something less than they wanted. Learning from the mistakes and missteps of others is one of the greatest gifts history provides.
Some dreams need to wait while others need to be done now so resources can be used more effectively. In addition, resources invested in the right goals creates dividends that can be used on future goals. Spreading my effort and resources too thinly might prolong the journey and I might quit the process. This is something that I do not want to do.
I entertained the idea of riding my bike solo across the United States this year. I planned to seeing the sun rise on the Maine coastline and watch him go to bed behind the Pacific Ocean. A fitting beginning and end to my journey. I decided to delay this resource intensive journey so I can free time, money and effort for other endeavors. The money, time, and effort will be used to focus on my running. The dream is not dead! I pushed off my departure date one year. This year, short cycling tours will be used as cross training for my running goals.
Another dream I’m postponing is finishing school. It’s always been a struggle. Without going into detail, I drifted, lost my confidence, and had a distaste of structured academic learning. I went to school for my parents and not for me. I will continue to grow and learn, just not in the classroom setting. I plan to learn on my own in the library and through experience. I found the knowledge that has stayed with me and most useful is knowledge I gained reading books at the library.
I decided not to move out this year. Rent is just another expense that can be used for other endeavors. My apartment will be just another large storage closet that I happen to sleep in eight hours a day while the bedroom at my parents will sit empty. The rent and utilities I save this year will go to getting out of debt. Getting out of debt creates more resources to take advantage of any opportunities that I confront. For example, last year was a great year for finding great bargains in investments and consumable goods. If I had the money saved away, I could have taken advantage of it.
In the past, I worked on too many things on too few resources. I’ve pushed too hard and burned out close to the end. This time it will be different.