you want to get anywhere you want to go, you've got to do the same thing

Since I am getting ready to leave on my three week doing nothing spree in Europe, it's becoming almost impossible to focus at work. As a result, I spend more time reading blogs than talking to my clients.

I came across this article Why Goal Setting Makes You Cringe that talks about obstacles on the way to achieving your dreams. Most of us are familiar with an old cliche - sky is the limit. An ultimate question is how to overcome fear of failure and stop procrastinating? What does inspire and motivate us to reach the unreachable?

...Suddenly, my GMAT studying comes to mind...

I am not a good test taker. Add an attention deficit disorder to it and you immediately realize that getting an acceptable score is like hoping for current markets to stabilize in one day. Mix it with 10-12 hours of consulting work and extensive traveling and you get the full picture.

So, you can imagine - I was doomed to fail from the very beginning. But I had a vision. A dream. I was not willing to give up. I knew I could beat that damn test if I only study, practice, study more, practice more.

I kept reading articles, blogs, books; spoke to the world trying to solve my problems. Everyone gave a different advice - some scared me, some discouraged me, some were hopeful or unrealistic. I then approached it from the business perspective - I blocked the external noises and, based on gathered information, developed a strategy suitable only for my individual case, my personality, and my abilities.

Convincing myself that I don't have all my life ahead helped me to resist those sweet temptations constantly imposed by my friends during weekends. I knew I had to compromise, give certain habits up in order to gain more at the end.

100 cups of coffee and 10 cigarettes later, I surprised myself by accomplishing what months ago seemed so impossible. Now, I apply the same principle even at work. I always ask myself - what is the objective and how can I achieve it. If I really want to finish a project ahead of time, I know, I am capable. I might disappear from the face of the Earth, buried alive in the work load, but I will get things done.

At the end, it comes to how important your goal is to you. Dreams change, people change. It becomes difficult to evaluate whether something so important today will even matter next year. Assess and look at the big picture. Be realistic, as some dreams should remain in the dream land, while others should become reality.

Rambles

I suppose I should be writing about the turbulence in the financial world and its global effect. Luckily, the sector I work in is still somewhat stable so I can sleep at night. My Wall-Street friends are pulling their hair off in attempts to decide what's next for them. Just a year ago they were convincing me that finance is the only elite industry that accepts the best and the luckiest.

Indeed, I was quite impressed with their bonuses and extravagant life style. I must admit I was contemplating the idea of switching to finance, yet, being on a rather conservative side, I did not feel comfortable with doing finance only. Perhaps, it is because I've lived through two economic collapses - crash of the USSR and the .com bubble burst - that planted a "cautious" seed in my brain.

Consulting, on the other hand, provides an opportunity to get engaged in various projects, activities, sectors, even countries. Constant learning is what I value the most about this type of work.

However, there is a price to pay for such a fun job. Typically, depending on a project, a consultant has no life. I suddenly realized it while sitting at the hair salon, getting my hair done, and working at the same time. My Spanish hair stylist (who is brilliant when it comes to my rebellious hair) looked at me as if I just came from the Moon.

"You work too much. Look at your face. Dark circles under your eyes. Not good for a girl. Guys won't like that."

She was right. While it was fun during past year to take my clients skydiving, skiing, dining in the best restaurants with the most delicious food, I could not recall a single minute when I had time to sit still. In the midst of this rush I forgot how to be a woman and not run through pedicures, manicures, massages, and facials. I even started shopping online to save time.

Even worse - I had no memories other than airports, suitcases, random faces and places.

Exhausted, yet hopeful, I am locking my notebook in the darkest drawer of my closet, packing a suitcase, and leaving to Europe for three weeks!

Life is too short to be lived like a marathon, when at the end there are no spectators waiting for you. Life is too grand not to be enjoyed. At the same time, I want to see how the old Europe handling financial crisis, and most importantly, what will my Alma Mater's future look like.