Are we there yet?

“Are we there yet?” That’s the question we always asked as kids on a long car ride. As long as we could envision the destination, we could tolerate the monotony and discomfort of the trip. But what happens when the goal is still far away?

We start looking at the road and focusing on how hard life is. Giving up on our dream becomes a viable option. That’s why you must stay focused on the bigger picture, the reason you were created.

Of course, the journey plays an important part: It prepares you to be successful when you reach your destination. Sadly, too many people get off track along the way. They get their eyes off the prize, quit along the way and then never fulfill their life’s purpose.

Keeping the bigger picture in mind (the end goal, the destination) helps us to press on.

Focus on the end game

Walt Disney was fired from his newspaper job because he “lacked ideas” and went bankrupt several times. When he tried to fund the development of Disneyland, over a hundred banks turned him down.

When Thomas Edison was 4 years old, his teacher sent a note home saying, “Please remove Thomas from this school because he is too stupid to learn.” That opinion didn’t keep him from going on  to invent the incandescent light bulb, becoming history’s most prolific inventor or having  1,093 U.S. patents as well as many in the UK, France and Germany.

Then there’s Lou Ferrigno who, as a child, developed an ear infection resulting in hearing loss in one ear. His father was very critical of him because of his hearing loss, believing he would never achieve success. Yet, at the age of 20, Ferrigno became the youngest body builder to win the Mr. Universe title and then became a legend on the TV show “The Incredible Hulk”. He once said, “If I hadn’t lost my hearing, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” It forced him to stay focused on the bigger picture (his desire to be successful) and maximize his potential.

There are many others who stayed focused on the end game in spite of obstacles they faced on the journey. Early teachers considered Albert Einstein an un-teachable fool and Wayne Gretzky (the most famous hockey player to play the game) was said to be “too small, too slow and would never make it in the NHL.” The experts considered Beethoven hopeless as a composer.

Pursue the prize ahead

These men had two things in common: 1). They never quit when it seemed like the only option and 2). they stayed focused on the bigger picture. They kept their eyes fixed on their destination—not just the journey. They accepted that life isn’t fair and doesn’t give you what you deserve. (But they obviously believed it gives you what you demand.)

Don’t let past failures deter you from pursuing your God-given dreams. There is a prize ahead, so press on toward your goal. Like the Apostle Paul said:

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13, 14).

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