Aim High, but Start Low

Almost 9 years ago, my whole life changed forever. I became disabled from a massive stroke that took away the use of the left side of my body. I am blessed that I regained the ability to walk again, but it took a lot of hard work and persistence. I still don’t have any functional use of my left hand and have set goals to try and get stronger.

We all have goals. But have you ever set a goal that was hard to attain and gotten discouraged along the way? Me too. How do we stay motivated during a long road toward our goal?
9 years ago, I set a goal that I was going to walk again. God blessed me with the strength to persist, although there were times of doubt. I started working hard every day in inpatient rehab, trying to get my brain to connect with my leg again. When I was discharged, I was still bound to a wheelchair, but committed to getting to my goal of mobility.

The brain finding new pathways is a very slow process. There were times I felt as if I wasn’t making much progress only to see substantial gains a week later. It was painstakingly hard and I was tired. Have you been there? Tired of working towards a goal each and every day only to feel like you are running in place?

I recommend people try to break that goal up into smaller goals. For me, my main goal was to walk again, but I broke it up into smaller goals each day/week like increasing how many strengthening exercises I did or how often the frequency. These smaller, more attainable goals keep us motivated and ultimately push us closer to our main goal!

When setting big ambitious goals, you don’t have to see the whole path, you just have to see your next step. It will be hard, but that’s what makes it worth it.

Don’t give up on your dreams. God put them on your heart for a reason, you got this!

2 Comments

  • What a great way to put that. I guess we should also celebrate reaching those smaller goals!

    Lynn July 26, 2021
  • I have witnessed Heater’s tenacity, faith and courage over these years and what she is suggesting is what she did.

    Randy Abramovic July 26, 2021

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.