7 Ways Having Balanced Goals Is Like Riding a Bicycle


Most people know how to ride a bicycle and probably remember the process they went through to master the skill.  

Goals are no different.  There is a process to master for your goals to work and, at the same time, to be balanced so your life is balanced.  

7 Ways Having Balanced Goals Is LIke Riding a Bicycle
  1. Action: forward motion requires action. Just sitting on a bicycle will not help you reach your destination.
  2. Consistency: forward motion requires consistent movement.  As long as pedaling continues you will move forward closer and closer to your destination. However, when the pedaling stops, so does that forward motion.  You will either stop or possibly fall over. 
  3. Training Wheels: just like crawling helps us develop the skills needed to walk, training wheels helps us develop the skills needed to ride the bicycle without them.  They provide the support and confidence to move on to bigger and better things. Whether training wheels or crawling, this helps you to figure out the areas in your life you want to improve and determine the skills you will need to develop to accomplish your goal.
  4. Focus: keep your eyes focused on what is ahead of you.  Distractions, looking everywhere but in the direction you are heading, will only take you off course .... off the path .... and could even cause a crash.  Life is similar.  Everyone and their neighbor is offering something that is very compelling and appealing.  These "side distractions" will only cause you to delay or never reach your goal.  You could easily become a "jack of all trades but a master of none".  Your goal is what is in front of you .... not at your sides. 
  5. Learning is a continual process: every new goal is a learning process.  It is similar to starting a new job.  There are always new things to learn for that job and new goals to meet.  Falls can happen when riding a bicycle (I know I have fallen!). But, I always got up and kept going.  Use these "falls" to learn what works and what doesn't. 
  6. New pathways: your goals should be new and unfamiliar pathways.  There will be unexpected "obstacles and curves". You may get a flat tire from hitting a piece of metal in the road or a rock.  Hitting a pot hole could cause the wheel to get bent or water to be splashed on you.  The road may have sudden and sharp curves.  Knowing how to "swerve" to miss those obstacles or how to "lean" to maneuver around the corners while maintaining balance and not fall are skills to develop and may be unique to each new goal.  Look at each of these experiences as a new opportunity to learn how to  "swerve". 
  7. Confidence: when I was first learning how to ride a bicycle I stuck close to the house.  Soon I was venturing out on the country roads. The more you ride a bicycle, the more confident you will become .... the more you will challenge yourself to do bigger and better things. With each goal you will develop new skills......
    • new skills will develop more confidence
    • confidence will produce motivation
    • motivation will inspire forward motion

So, now you have come full-circle.  Every new goal will follow this pattern .... this wheel.  Notice there are no breaks in the wheel.  A broken wheel needs to be fixed or discarded.  The same is true with goals.  If it seems to be broken or not working .... not achievable .... for you, either fix/adjust your goal or discard it and develop a new one. 


Learn more about goals here