Note to Reader:
(This blog post marks the fifth anniversary of my blog, Monday Morning Motivation. I wrote my first post on August 7, 2010. The first two years I posted daily. The last three years I have posted weekly. I have received over a quarter of a million page views during these five years. So, thanks to everyone who has stopped by.)
I was 35 years old when I first heard about the importance of goal-setting in achieving one's dreams. In college I had dreamed of being a writer but at 35 was far from my dream. I had only written about 200 poems in 15 years. I set a goal to write a poem a day for a year. That year I wrote over 400 poems.
Now, after more than 30 years of setting goals and writing thousands of poems, I have come to understand what Ziglar means in this quote. The person I have become through the process of struggling to achieve my goals is more important than whether I did or did not achieve my goals. The journey, as others have said, is more important than the destination.
So, how has achieving my goals made me a better person, a better writer? Has my journey been more important then my destination?
My creative journey has given me a greater appreciation for the struggle of all creative individuals. I understand what it means to be an artist or a writer. I am less willing to criticize the creative works of others. Yes, some of us may be more skilled than others, but we all have creative forces running through our veins. I know what it means to put pen to paper or paint brush to canvas and not find an audience for my work.
I have a greater appreciation of the creative energy that drives my being. If I don't write or draw, I become melancholy. I need to expend my creative energy. The more I create the happier I become. Failure to create leaves me lifeless, empty.
I have gained the ability to create anywhere and anytime. I can write a poem while sitting in a mall while my wife shops. I can write in church while the minister is preaching. I can doodle while sitting in a business meeting. I can take a walk at 6 a.m. and compose a poem. Creating works of art has for me become a way of life, not a destination.
And most importantly, through my creativity I have found spiritual healing and understanding. As a teenager, I was troubled by the hypocrisy of church members. Writing has helped me see beyond the hypocrisy and to gain an understanding of the hearts of others. I am a better person for the time I have spent creating.
Have you set goals for your creative journey? Have you come to understand that the journey is more important than the destination?
About Zig Ziglar
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| 1926 - 2012 |
Hilary Hinton Ziglar was the tenth of twelve children born to John Silas Ziglar and Lila Wescott Ziglar. When Ziglar was five, his family moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi where he spent most of his early childhood. His father and sister died a year later. Ziglar served in the United States Navy during World War II. He married his wife, Jean, in 1946.
Zig Ziglar began his career as a salesman and eventually moved into motivational speaking. He wrote and published more than a dozen books including See you at the Top, Secrets of Closing the Sale and Confessions of a Happy Christian.
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