Milestone birthdays?
My Mother, Marilyn, turned 75 recently. My Dad, Dominick, is 77. As our parents age, it’s interesting how roles reverse in the family, over time. For example, I had the honor of baking the chocolate birthday cake with chocolate icing. I watched overjoyed at JUST.HOW.EXCITED. my Mom was with this childhood favorite. In times past, it would have been Mom that was baking my and my brother’s cake (we celebrated together). And, it would have been her watching our excitement and taking pictures. We recently had a laugh about a ‘lamb’ cake that looked more like the Sphinx than an actual lamb. I wish I had a photo of that cake… but I digress. It’s equally interesting how ‘milestone’ birthdays often trigger a ‘check-in’ with how ‘we’ are doing overall in our lives. Today, I’m going to reflect on the importance of milestones.
Milestone Etymology
Back in the day, people would place stones at particular or regular markers along the side or median of a road to guide travelers on their respective journeys. In the context of life, a milestone is an important event in a person’s life or career, in the history of a nation or in the life of a project. Since milestones are traditionally placed by people along the road and birthdays just happen to come via mother nature, isn’t it possible that birthdays aren’t really milestones? For me a milestone is intentional as well as achieved. To some people turning a certain age is no big deal. It just represents another trip around the sun. To others these BIG ‘(insert your favorite number (2,3,4,5,6,7) – 0’ birthdays mean something more.
Intentionality of Milestones
I don’t know about you, but when mother nature gifted me a BIG X-0 birthday. I did a check-in with myself. And, my life was different than what I had ‘thought’ it would be. Yes, I had achieved a certain age, but what had I really achieved? It wasn’t until later that I realized I hadn’t purposely placed my milestones for my career or my life. See my previous blog post about the importance of AIM: HERE Another key learning was I didn’t fully define what I wanted specifically by when. Nor did I have a plan to get there. So, I couldn’t really be upset with myself or blame anyone else for my career and life inventory.
Defining Milestones for your Goal:
After you spend time on See It, Hear It, Feel It (click link for reference):
- Plan it:
- Take the goal and reverse engineer it. Back into the date with the steps and actions that you need to take to get you there.
- Schedule time to work on your goal.
- Put a date on each milestone. Put your milestone on your calendar or project plan.
- Check on your progress regularly.
These are so simple and often we don’t do these important steps. I hope you found the discussion on milestones helpful!
Don’t you want to set those milestones and exceed them? Working with a coach is an empowering experience. It undoubtedly is an investment in yourself and aren’t you worth it?
Are you ready?: Press HERE for Success
As adults we spend the bulk of our waking hours ‘at work’. We only have a finite amount of time on this planet, and you can choose how to spend that time. I wish you much success on your career quest. Yours in balance, learning, growth and harmony. – Melissa DeLuca, CEO
