There’s a quote by Dag Hammarskjold which I adore, which says “we remember our dead. When they were born, when they passed away – either as men of promise, or men of achievement.” For the journey to have meaning, you have to actually be going somewhere.The key is to be constantly setting new goals – and achieving them. THAT, the continual quest for improvement, is the real journey. But, as Hammarskjold may have noted with the titling of his own Meditations, “Markings”, you have to leave evidence of your passing. An endless struggle does not inspire others – a perpetual journey, marked by higher and higher accomplishment, does.

Start something ambitious – then finish it. Then set your sights higher with a new goal – and reach it. THAT is the path of the exceptional and extraordinary. The world’s estimation of you – and yours of yourself – will be based not on how busy you are, but on what you finish. It may be a struggle. It may take time. But if a goal is twenty miles away, you’ll get a better result trying to reach it on a rusty tricycle with two flat tires than you will using a state of the art thousand dollar exercycle. One looks flashier than the other, and you’ll look cooler riding it. But if you don’t reach that goal at the end of the trip, then there’s no point in it.

Plan something great. Then finish it.