Begin Traveling by Using Deadlines
Finding the right time
There sometimes can be a “right time” I like to think thats true. However just how long will it be until the right time comes? When will everything align for things to go as smoothly as possible with no risk? How come it seems like so many people can leave on a flip of a coin but I need a certain conditions met.
Waiting for the "right time" to pursue your dreams can be a trap that keeps you from truly living the life you want. It's easy to get stuck in the mindset that everything needs to be perfect before you can take action. But the truth is, life is messy, there will always be challenges and obstacles to overcome, no matter when you decide to take the leap. By waiting for the perfect moment, you're allowing fear to hold you back from experiencing all the amazing things that life has to offer. Instead of waiting for the "right time", focus on mitigating risk and opening yourself up to opportunities. Set realistic goals and deadlines, and take action towards achieving them. With persistence and determination, you can create the life that you want to live.
Creating deadlines
When I arrived in Hawaii and met the people that were going to be hosting me, one of them said “Congratulations! Everyone says they want to come here but most never make it” I immediately understood what he was talking about. Hawaii isn’t a destination thats tremendously difficult to get to and it isn’t wildly expensive to fly there either (as long as you book ahead of time and out of the tourism season). He was congratulating me on taking the time to figure out how to get there.
Setting a deadline is important to achieving your goals because it helps you to stay focused and motivated, and gives you a sense of urgency to work towards your goal. Without a deadline, it can be easy to procrastinate and put off taking action, which can lead to missed opportunities and a sense of frustration. A deadline also allows you to break your goal down into smaller, manageable tasks, making it easier to track your progress and adjust your plan as needed to ensure that you stay on track towards achieving your goal.
But wait!
Creating deadlines doesn't have to be stressful; in fact, they can be incredibly beneficial for productivity and motivation. Deadlines provide a clear sense of purpose and urgency, helping individuals and teams stay focused on their goals. When set realistically and with proper planning, deadlines can be empowering, providing a roadmap to success and a sense of accomplishment upon completion. They encourage better time management and the prioritization of tasks, ultimately reducing procrastination and spreading the workload more evenly. Moreover, deadlines can foster collaboration and a sense of camaraderie among team members, as everyone works together towards a common objective. By viewing deadlines as tools for organization and motivation rather than sources of stress
SMART Goals
I was able to do this using a system called SMART goals. This tactic is a great way to set up reasonable goals that you can obtain rather than something way out of proportion. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. Here’s what each letter means:
- Specific: Your goal should be clear and well-defined. Avoid setting vague goals that are difficult to measure or track. Checking things of or, having something tangible created are both specific goals
- Measurable: Set goals that can be quantified or measured in some way. This will help you track your progress and determine whether you’re making progress towards your goal.
- Achievable: Your goal should be challenging, but also realistic and achievable. Avoid setting goals that are too difficult or unrealistic, as this can lead to frustration and a sense of failure, thus leading to unnecessary back tracking and a sense of insecurity.
- Relevant: Your goal should be relevant to your overall priorities and objectives. Make sure that your goals align with your values and long-term aspirations.
- Time-based: Set a deadline for achieving your goal. This will help you stay focused and motivated, and give you a sense of urgency to work towards your goal. Many people that create a deadline aren’t sure how to create one properly. Giving themselves too much time or too little time. both have their pitfalls
These are all basically check and balance systems to make sure your goals and the way you approach them are planned with everything in mind!
Milestones vs. Tasks
SMART goals help you set up tasks to complete so you can reach milestones that you should also create for yourself. Milestones are points in time in which you should have a clearly defined deliverable. This could be having a website created, or perhaps a number of pictures you want to have ready for posting on instagram.
Milestone-setting pitfalls
Here are some things to avoid when setting milestones:
- Don’t set too many milestones. When there are too many milestones, their importance is downplayed. And, if milestones are too small or too specific, you may end up with too many, making the project look much more intimidating than it actually is. With many of your goals, you should only have a few or less milestones.
- Don’t mistake tasks for milestones. Remember that milestones should represent moments in time, and in order to map out how you will get to those moments, you need to assign smaller tasks to each milestone.
- Don’t list your milestones and tasks separately. Having tasks and milestones in the same area will allow you to compare your task progress with where you milestone is to see if you’re on schedule, or you’ve fallen behind, OR you need to change your plan if something has changed.
To apply SMART goals in your life, start by identifying a specific goal you want to achieve. Next, make sure that your goal is measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. Break your goal down into smaller, manageable tasks (if you want to travel long term, one of these could be getting out of your rental contract), and create a plan to achieve each task. Regularly track your progress, and adjust your plan as needed to ensure that you stay on track towards achieving your goal. Remember, setting SMART goals can help you achieve your dreams and live the life you want!
Here are some examples of how SMART goals can be used to create deadlines for people who want to travel full time:
Specific:
- I want to begin traveling full time by the end of next year.
- I want to visit 10 countries in the next 12 months.
Measurable:
- I want to save $10,000 for my travel fund by the end of the year.
- I want to spend no more than $50 per day on food and lodging during my travels. (Believe it or not you dont even need this much if you plan it right) Here is an article for those really on a budget
Achievable:
- I will reach out to 4 hosts on worldpackers(Link this to worldpackers article) and have housing for 6 months of travel.
- I will research cheap travel destinations and create a list of destinations
Relevant:
- I want to travel full time and create a blog to inspire others to do the same if they want
- I want to learn a new language
Time-based:
- I will quit my job and begin traveling full time by the end of the year.
- I will visit all 50 states in the next two years.
See how the goal of traveling full time went from one large task to many smaller, obtainable ones? This is the power of SMART goals!
When I took my first flight to begin traveling, It was necessary that I created deadlines for myself and to take the leap no matter how scared I was. For this to happen, I had to sell my car, not cancel my lease, put things into a storage shed, and figure out where I was going. Really the only reason I was able to travel at that time was thanks to Worldpackers(insert another link). With this website, I found a gracious host that would house and provide food in Alaska while I gave him 25 of my hours every week. The tasks that he had me preform were always something I found intriging, something that challenged me, or gave me some insight into the way other people lived. I even fell in love with the task of digging a hole for an outhouse believe it or not. I will forever be greatful for that experience and you can read about it (here). Now that I’ve had several other worldpackers trips and after so many flights, all I need to think about now is where I want to go, what do I want to do there, and how to get there. It gets much easier down the line believe me. I hope that the content on this page gave you resources and inspiration so you can achieve your goals and gain meaningful life experiences.