What does attainable mean to you?

Does that define how you strive to achieve your goals?

Maybe what is truly holding us back isn’t our abilities, but where we’ve set the mark and our process to achieve them.

It was Savanna’s first time to shoot a rifle and all three shots were in the closest proximity possible to the bulls-eye!

Her goal for the weekend was to eventually shoot a whitetail buck, something she probably never even imagined was a possibility. Practicing on the target she gained the confidence and assurance that this was something she could actually accomplish. As she was coached on how to safely handle the gun, aim, breathe and pull the trigger she listened intently. She recognized the people around her sharing advice had nothing to gain but the satisfaction of seeing her succeed. And succeed she did!

But bagging a deer wasn’t her ultimate takeaway. She was now empowered and equipped to go out into the world knowing that with a little practice and perseverance things she never even imagined were within reach.

As I watched her absorb years of knowledge from those who had practiced decades doing this very thing, I couldn’t help being reminded of so many others who have asked for expert advice and gone on to risk doing it another way.

How many times have we done the same?

We aim at a new challenge and enlist the help of those who have gone before us. As we begin to make our way we think that we can do it better. Frustration from constant failures eventually leads us to abandon the project altogether.

Or even worse, we look upon our unspoken hopes and dreams thinking they are too far out of our reach. We imagine that something is unattainable simply because we have never seen it done or experienced it personally. If we would only take the time to research and find someone to coach us toward the goal.

That is one of my biggest takeaways of this past year. I had my heart set on some very big goals. Like Savanna I could see the bull’s-eye far in the distance ahead of me but I didn’t know how to hit it.

So I did the exact same thing that made her so successful.

I found others who had paved the road ahead of me. Not only have they achieved far greater accomplishments than the ones I was aiming for but they have created strategies to share with others. So I listened intently and I followed their expertise instruction. Now I am achieving things I never thought possible and doing things I thought were available to only a select few. And I am taking a lesson from them in creating my own strategies to help equip others myself.

Now it’s your turn. Set your sights on those crazy dreams and goals that you never thought were achievable. Then go find an experienced mentor to coach you too.

Savanna’s accomplishments are just beginning and so are yours!