I have undertaken a near impossible task: cleaning my computer of unnecessary files. In this process I have looked through and rediscovered many things that I have written or done over the last decade. Yes. I have files saved from 2001. Judge if you would like.

One of the things I came across was a 5 year goal plan I wrote when I was 27. So, I gladly flipped it open to see how I had done with everything I had written down. I have achieved everything (there were only five goals.) You would think I would be happy knowing that I had achieved what I set out to do. Um…no. I became painfully aware that I set my sites way too low.

Goals are powerful. There is power in taking time to figure out what you want to do with the time that you have been given and then writing it out and putting a plan of action to it. There have been countless studies that say that people who write their goals down far outperform those who don’ t. I believe it.

The problem we run into is we are so involved in the now that we don’t have the time or energy to put into thinking about what we want then. Does that make sense? Are you busy? Do you feel like you have too much on your plate? Do you plan a day at a time? Week at a time? Month by month? Or year by year? People who live and think day to day never feel like they have the time to have goals. Life is too busy happening to them.

By planning out goals 1, 5, and even 10 or more years into the future you start to look at the big picture. You have the ability to see what you need to be doing to get where you want to go. You have a chance to connect the dots. There is a good chance you will get far with this method. Success doesn’t happen by accident. You have to plan for it.

So, five years later I am happy that I have achieved the goals I set out on. I am frustrated at my lack of vision and creativity, but I am glad to know that I am engaged in the process. Here are a few things I have learned from the exercise:

1. Set bigger goals. Five years is a long time. A lot of good stuff can be done in that time frame.

2. Review them often. I am amazed that I have reached the goals on my list because I didn’t follow this step. I knew what I wanted, but wasn’t keeping it in front of me as I should to keep the fire lit inside.

3. Be excited about the victories, but know that the war is far from over. Once one goal is achieved it makes way to start pursuing others.

Bottom line, I have another 5 year plan to make. I am shooting a lot bigger this time.

Like most people, I struggle with fear. Fear of failure. Fear of insignificance. Fear of snakes. It is irrational. I don’t know why, but fear can paralyze me quick. I can’t talk. I can’t think. I hate when I allow that to happen to me.

For the longest time I thought that fears were just something that I would have to accept. My lot in life. But somewhere deep inside of me there was a voice telling me that I was not supposed to be ruled by fear. I didn’t have to give in to it. I don’t have to give in to it. So, there are areas of my life that I have started to turn into the fear. To stare at it and examine it. I am finding it to be nothing more than wind and shadows. I am finding myself empowered…but I still stay away from snakes.

What are you afraid of? What imagined things hold you back from what you could be doing? I think that the words fear and alive are opposed in many ways. If we want to be alive, fully alive, we can’t live under fear’s rule. We have to be able to look into the fear, see the truth, and do what needs to be done.

There are times we will all be afraid of something. Consider the source. Some fears keep you safe. Some fears only serve to keep you in chains. Which one are you up against?