What a Scared-out-of-his-mind Dad Can Teach You About Reaching Your Goals

Both father and son sported white knuckles as if gripping their own lives.

The father's heart thumped in his chest. He did his best to stay calm, despite knowing death was at hand.

Bruce McKay (CC)

No, he wasn't running with the bulls or fighting a fire. 

He was teaching his son to drive. (I should probably also mention that that son was me.)

The Best Driving Advice I Ever Got

Whether he remembers it or not, my dad gave me some advice that I won't ever forget. And maybe it was the threat of a head-on collision or of me rolling our Ford Windstar, but my dad's words that day were especially profound. He said:

Look further down the road, and it will help you steady out the car.

I had trouble staying in the lane because I was looking straight down, focusing on the lines right in front of me. Instead of straightening out the vehicle, I over-adjusted like a paranoid drunk. By the time I steered the car where I thought it should go, that part of the road was gone.

Looking farther down the road allowed me to anticipate the curves and the potholes; it gave me more time to adjust.

It seems odd that focusing on where I was going helped me stabilize where I was at, but it did.


Have You Lost Sight of Your Goals?

You have goals—even if you're not brave enough to say them out loud.

But you must put them out in front of you where you can see them. If you don't, you'll get caught up in the minutiae and meaninglessness of the day-to-day. You will get thrown off course.

Paul wrote a bit about this in the book of Philippians:

. . . one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 3:13b-14

Paul urges believers to focus on their future in Christ—on their reconciliation and reunion with God in heaven.

Don't lose sight of that goal.

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