"but it is the journey that matters in the end..."

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

                                                                   ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

You have an amazing story. The simple fact that you are alive is remarkable.  Right now, you are leading a once in a life time event on this planet no other person will ever experience. Despite what you feel is mundane or ordinary only you have lived your moments of joy, passion, anguish and accomplishment. There is a broad spectrum of goals many human beings share such as happiness, peace, love, success, to have a family, marriage. Then there are those goals that we achieve almost silently without celebration or acknowledgement from outside ourselves. How many of us have spent an entire day completing a list of tasks, errands or personal goals only to have someone sarcastically say. " So what exactly DID YOU DO ALL DAY?"  Setting and meeting small goals and accomplishments is something we all do on a daily basis with little touting or fanfare. Below is a brief video from Derek Sivers who is best known as the founder of CD Baby.  Sivers has been a professional musician since 1987, he started CD Baby by accident in 1998 when he was selling his own CD on his website, and friends asked if he could sell theirs, too. CD Baby was the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients.

     In 2008, Sivers sold CD Baby to focus on his new ventures to benefit musicians, including his new company, MuckWork, where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their "uncreative dirty work." Here in this brief and thought provoking TED TALK,  Sivers examines  the pros and con's of sharing certain goals with others. What do you think? Do you find sharing your goals to be helpful or more of a hindrance?

     Each step you take to achieve your personal goals is never lost even if you have given up a thousand times. Keep going. Keep trying, even if it means guarding your ideals and pursuits from skeptics or cynics. You may keep some of your motivations and achievements quiet because ultimately this is your journey. This is not being selfish. There is no one you ask permission to be who you are. Your personal battles and achievements have created YOU.