“No time like the present,a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time.”

—Source Unknown, circa 1790

As we were finishing our session, my client, who recently lost her job, mused about whether looking for work during a pandemic—with record-high numbers of unemployed— made any sense. 

Perhaps you’ve wondered the same thing about any one of your goals. In some respects, we must act “as if.” Angela Davis once said, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”  Slightly altering that sentiment, I believe we must act as if transforming ourselves and our situation is possible and we must act this way all the time.

Acting as if differs from wishful thinking. It requires taking action. In Buddhist terms, we must accept what is true this day, this hour, this moment AND we must move into the future with courage. Projecting what that future will look like is pure fiction; this is a true now as it was in the past. Regardless of the not knowing, pursuing one’s goals is noble and worthwhile.

A blog post I wrote at the start of this pandemic (which seems like years ago) was titled, Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste. This crisis will have not gone to waste if you’ve prepared yourself for life post-pandemic.

No better time to work on one’s goals than now. I took my own advice and that of one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott. I stopped NOT writing. I implore you to stop NOT doing whatever would bring you closer to where you want to be. This is a perfect time to plan for your next transition, whatever that is.

If you’ve lost your job, no time like the present to clarify your work values, assess your strengths and your skills and talents, update your resume, draft cover letters and prepare for interviews.

Perhaps you are still employed (congratulations) or you’re happily unemployed and your aim is to improve your health and wellbeing. Perhaps you want to clean out your closets or find a partner or end a relationship. No matter what you desire, no time like the present to begin your journey.

Start Small and Specific

One of the biggest obstacles to meeting our goals is being too ambitious. What can you this day, this week or this month? Be realistic. If, for example, you need to look for work, your ultimate objective is finding a job— but that could take a number of months. The smaller, tangible task of updating your resume, however, may be accomplished in a much shorter period of time and will propel you toward your desired outcome.

Sometimes our goals overwhelm us. I recently worked with a client who had a backlog of accounts receivables. Her aim for the week was to organize her receipts in chronological order and by category.

Getting in shape is a very common pursuit. Unfortunately, as a target, it’s a bit too vague to be useful. Perhaps getting in shape means being able to jog three miles, arm curling twenty-pound weights for twelve reps, or comfortably fitting into your jeans. This is for you to determine.

Being perilously close to our pantries and our refrigerators, many folks are finding they may have gained weight during this time at home. If you’d like lose five pounds (or more), reaching that objective in a week or even a month may not be realistic or healthy

Especially while we’re in limbo, best to keep your objectives small and specific regardless of your overarching ambitions.

Will you know it when you see it?

Losing weight, getting healthy, exercising more, stressing less, and looking for work require specificity and measurability. When a goal is nonspecific and not measurable, knowing you’ve achieved anything is difficult. A sense of accomplishment is what buoys us to continue the voyage to doggedly pursue our vision.

The yard stick can change as you run into obstacles (real or imagined). That’s fine. Goal-setting, like life, requires flexibility and adapting to internal and external realities. What’s critical is NOT stopping. The damage of forsaking one’s desires is a double-whammy: not only is growth compromised but one’s self-esteem is also damaged.

When I decided 2020 was the year to get my book completed, I believed I could finish that project by the year’s end. We’re closing in on the halfway mark and I’ve completed one chapter. I was clearly overly ambitious, not understanding all the preliminary steps (like research and detailed chapter summaries) needed to get the actual writing done. Needless to say, my benchmarks have changed but I continue to write.

Of course, any one of us has the choice to change course. Abandoning one’s aspirations is always an option, especially when they’re replaced by something different. Many folks have begun a job hunt to later abandon it because they’ve decided to become an entrepreneur or, perhaps, keep the job they already have.

One of my longest-term clients initially sought my help because she wanted a new job. After a period of time, she decided a new job was not the “issue.” She pivoted her focus and decided improving her family relationships was her new aim.

Using the example above, having the desire to improve a relationship needs to be further defined. How will you know you’ve accomplished what you wished? What behaviors need to happen? Will you know it when you see it? 

Baby Steps

Any task, any objective can be broken down into baby steps. Overwhelm happens quickly when big goals are not delineated. If you’re stuck or avoiding a task, chances are you’re overcome by the enormity of the project and need to make a list of the small steps needed to reach your end point.  

A famous line in the 1993 movie, Philadelphia, is a catch-phrase for those of us trying to unpack a complicated concept or task. The lawyer, played by Denzel Washington, says: Explain this to me like I’m a two-year old.” (Later in the movie, he changes the age to six-year old.)

I recently asked a client to describe the task and all its components to me as if I were from Mars. She did and we were able to break the onerous task into baby steps. The important thing is to make steady and sure progress on your vision and keep the momentum going.

Let’s say you want to improve a relationship. Outlining the behaviors or actions that will move you toward that objective is crucial. Scheduling regular check-ins, learning to express yourself in a way that can be heard, listening actively and nonjudgmentally once a day or once a week are all examples of baby steps that will get you closer to that objective. Doing nothing or magical thinking generally doesn’t help.

The Here and Now

As the expression goes: we can never step into the same river twice. The river is constantly changing as are we. With this image in mind, the adage, no time like the present, as true as it can be.