When it comes to hobbies, it's always good to have goals in mind. How far do you want to take something? It's very easy to get carried away and compare yourself to your friends and stuff you find on the internet. But what is really realistic vs. far fetched? Do we only measure success by the big, long-term goals? How about smaller, short-term goals? And how much time and money are we going to have to invest for our dreams to become a reality?
Motorcycling is one of our main hobbies. Back in June 2009 when we bought our bike, we talked about some long-term goals, like taking a real road trip on the bike, maybe even cross country. Another goal would be putting 100,000 miles on the bike before considering getting a second bike, and really getting the goody out of it. We also hoped to get some of our trips featured in motorcycle magazines. At that time we had no idea if any of that was reasonable or if we had our heads in the clouds.
So how have we done to this point four years later? We completed a cross country trip last summer, the bike has 45,000 miles on it, and our story about our "hardest trip" and "worst riding conditions" was recently featured in the Web-Rider Spotlight in RoadBikeMag. Does this mean the end is near for our motorcycling adventures? I don't think so. The beauty of achieving these smaller successes is it empowers you to accomplish even more.
For us, setting two or three key objectives helps us fuel our passion. Everything else along the way is a bonus. When you've got your eye on big, long-term goals, then your smaller goals tend to fall into place. Smaller goals tend to naturally change over time anyway. If we hadn't completed one of these things there would be no shame in that. "We will do it as long as it stays fun" has been our motto for motorcycling and many other hobbies. So keep your hobbies fun and don't be afraid to dream big. Who knows what you'll accomplish?
Motorcycling is one of our main hobbies. Back in June 2009 when we bought our bike, we talked about some long-term goals, like taking a real road trip on the bike, maybe even cross country. Another goal would be putting 100,000 miles on the bike before considering getting a second bike, and really getting the goody out of it. We also hoped to get some of our trips featured in motorcycle magazines. At that time we had no idea if any of that was reasonable or if we had our heads in the clouds.
So how have we done to this point four years later? We completed a cross country trip last summer, the bike has 45,000 miles on it, and our story about our "hardest trip" and "worst riding conditions" was recently featured in the Web-Rider Spotlight in RoadBikeMag. Does this mean the end is near for our motorcycling adventures? I don't think so. The beauty of achieving these smaller successes is it empowers you to accomplish even more.
For us, setting two or three key objectives helps us fuel our passion. Everything else along the way is a bonus. When you've got your eye on big, long-term goals, then your smaller goals tend to fall into place. Smaller goals tend to naturally change over time anyway. If we hadn't completed one of these things there would be no shame in that. "We will do it as long as it stays fun" has been our motto for motorcycling and many other hobbies. So keep your hobbies fun and don't be afraid to dream big. Who knows what you'll accomplish?