Goals vs. Dreams

Have you ever listened to Dave Ramsey?  He a financial counselor with a radio show.  His primary goal is to help people achieve financial freedom by getting out of debt.  completely.  Even the house.  I love to listen to him talk to people.  Doesn't matter the amount of debt, the steps are always the same.

Anyway, I was listening to him as I drove south on Friday, and he was having a fascinating discussion with a guy who wrote a book called Rich Habits.  (Remind me to check on that when I'm done here.)  Part of the conversation broke down the difference between goals and dreams.

"I want to lose weight," without a plan, is simply a dream.  Goals are concrete.  They are set, they are written down on paper, and you determine the steps it takes to reach the end.  Wow.  I knew that stuff, but merely on an intuitive level.  I may tell myself "I want to...whatever," but unless I start making a plan and moving forward, I can be pretty sure it's never going to happen.

Like, "I want to travel/vacation/get away for a while."  Over this past year, I made plans, and followed through on them.  I think I've been gone more in the past 9 months than the previous 5 years combined!  I stopped dreaming, and started doing.

If you've ever stopped by this blog, you know that my favorite phrase is "Goals are good!"  They can be little goals or big, they can be short term or lifetime, but without setting the goals in the first place, for me, it's never going to happen.

When I packed to come down here, I thought about the week.  What, exactly, did I want to accomplish?  I brought five projects with me.  I'd love to finish three of them, and make a lot of progress on the fourth.  The fifth came along, just in case I blew it and forgot something more than my hairbrush and my socks.  (I think they're still on the bed.)

So far, I have conquered Goal #1, which was to "sew out the quilt that has been in my brain since I first saw Barbara Daniel's design board in March."  whew!  Do you even know what I am talking about?  It our Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.  I was so wrapped up in the quilt show and the Calico Mermaid Challenge that I filed away "Inspired by Barbara D," sewing date TBD.  Yesterday was the day.

I'll have to admit that I had a tough time achieving my goal.  I finished it at noon today, rather than bedtime last night.  I spent too much time walking around town, looking at everything.  This place is amazing.

This is Barbara D's board.  (There are two Barbaras in the group, just to make it fun.)

I dreamt about it the night I got it.  Funny, because in looking back, it now says "wood."  When I first got it, it said "trees" and "overgrown greenery, with a few flowers thrown in for good measure."

I imagined a foundation pieced quilt, of radiating rays of green, reaching down like the branches of pine trees.  Bear with me.  I'm trying to sound like an Artist.  ;)

Anyhoo, I drew the pattern months ago, and cut and sewed the thing during the past 26 hours.  I'm not sure if I'll add anything besides quilting.  My goal was to get this far, and now I'm done. 

Check #1 off the list.

Stay tuned for Goal #2.  It's a doozy!

In the meantime, here is some LaJolla eye candy to satisfy those left behind.

Okay, I'm getting carried away.  I'll leave you with one reason to be happy you are NOT here.

I don't know if you can see the bottom board, but the price for regular "full serve" is $5.69!  And you can see that there is actually a car at the pump, paying these prices!  Wow.  They must have a company gas card, or be totally on "E"!  (It's 30 cents cheaper at Chevron, 2 blocks away.)