Self-Improvement Journal: The Conversation with My Son That Taught Me a Valuable Lesson About Goal Setting

Just picture this: you're at the beach, enjoying a simple chat with your child, when suddenly, a light bulb goes off in your head! You're filled with a profound sense of purpose about life and your goals. A swim towards the buoys, which seems like a game, turns into an amazing lesson on persistence, progress, and how to face challenges head-on! I'm so excited to share this story with you! It might just give you a whole new perspective on your own goals.

Usually, when we're at the beach, we stay in the shallow water, having a blast discussing all kinds of topics that interest my kids! This time, my younger son got cold and quickly got out of the water, but he was back in the sea in no time! I stayed with my older son, Christos, who had recently turned 10 – he was so excited to be swimming! Although he enjoys swimming, he doesn't yet have the strength to swim for long periods without getting tired.

The challenge: I suggested we swim together to the buoys, about 200 metres away. For Christos, this was a challenge. I promised him that we would go at a slow pace and that only if he felt truly exhausted would he lean on me to continue. This agreement was an important first step: acknowledging the difficulties but also committing to consistency and perseverance.

We did it! After all our hard work, we finally reached the buoys. Christos was absolutely thrilled. He hugged the buoy and shouted, "We did it, Dad!" But there was still more to come!

Our new goal was to return to the shore, and this journey proved to be even more exciting! The waves made our return more challenging, but Christos was up for the adventure and eager to keep going. He leaned on me, and I swam even more slowly, enjoying the challenge together.

A little later, he asked me:

Dad, why have we been in the same spot for so long?

Oh, we are! We're making progress! We might not be moving as fast as we'd like, but we're definitely moving forward.

But look at those people on the beach! They look so small!

Just look back and see how far we've come from those buoys!

Christos looked back and was thrilled to see that despite our slow progress, we had already covered a significant distance.

Guess what? We reached our initial goal of the buoys! We got tired, but we reached them! Now for the best bit! We just need to gather our strength and continue towards the shore. You felt like we were stuck, but when you looked back, you saw how far we'd come! And this applies to absolutely everything in life!

I thought, what a great chance to chat with him about the importance of setting goals and working on yourself!

In life, we often get to face similar challenges, which is great because we can learn so much from them! Our goals may seem distant and our efforts small, but that doesn't mean we aren't making progress – far from it!

It's totally normal to feel tired on the way to achieving your goals. If you don't feel tired, it just means your goal is challenging enough!

Sometimes you might feel like you're stuck in the same place, but that's when you need to calm down, think about what you've already achieved, and remember that each day brings you closer to your goal!

Keep going! Even if progress is slow, you'll get there! The most important thing is to keep moving forward! Then I said to him, "Christos, I think you can touch the bottom here!" We might have been going slowly, but we were making progress! Each step brought us closer to our goal!

And that's how our conversation went! We had more dialogue and examples, but it would be boring for LinkedIn.

When I got home, I was buzzing from my conversation with my son. It was so inspiring! It made me think about my professional and personal goals in a new way. I remembered all the times I felt stuck, but now I know that goals don't require haste, but rather consistency and patience.

Once the kids were asleep, I got home and started writing this article.