Goals and dreams. We all have those. We grow up having a particular career goal in mind and attempt to work towards those. We have dreams of starting a family, having a business, owning a home and so much more. Then, we put timelines in place, dictating when such goals should be achieved.

But what happens if those goals aren’t achieved within your specified timeline?

What if you don’t lose forty pounds by Christmas? What if you don’t own your own home by age twenty-five? What if you are unsure what career path you want to take? What if…?

For many, disappointment sets in. It gets hard, especially when you have tried everything you can to “make it happen”. I know in the Jamaican context, there are many who have graduated from a tertiary level institution but have to settle for a 9-5 that just pays the bills and for food.

Just know, you are in my prayers.

It is particularly difficult to come to terms with earning chump’s change when the timeline you have for yourself to succeed is way behind schedule. It is easy to look at yourself as a failure when this happens. To add insult to injury, you feel worse because your friends and family are more successful in life than you are.

If you constantly use other’s timelines and success as a measuring stick, your self-worth will be reduced to nothingness. You will be robbed of your joy and peace of mind when you think the grass is greener on the other side.  Don’t believe the lies. You are not a failure. You are not worthless. A flower that blooms in winter is not less beautiful than one that blooms in spring. Just know, achieving goals take time. You may never own your own home at twenty-five, but you still can own a home, and that’s a big achievement. There is nothing to be ashamed of.

History is filled with persons who went through similar situations like yours. Colonel Sanders got a breakthrough with the world-renowned KFC recipe when he was in his sixties after having many near misses in his life. Nelson Mandela spent twenty-five years in a jail cell in South Africa, fighting against the apartheid system. When he got out, he became the President of the country at age seventy-five. Consider Jesus, who was thirty when he started His ministry. You’re in good company.

Life will throw curveballs at you. You cannot control that. What you can control is your perspective and responses to these situations. Take the losses as lessons. Pray. Improve. Grow. Keep moving forward towards your dreams no matter the pace.

^{Photo by “Joel” Tucker (IG: @jo_media_)}