Climbing Your Goal Tree: Three Strategies For Success

Growing up in Tennessee, I spent many summers of my childhood exploring the creeks, fields, and parks that surrounded my home. In particular, I found loved the challenge and fun of climbing trees. At the back side of the park was a slope covered in beautiful pine trees known as the Pine Woods. It held many memories from my youth including a massive beech tree that would come to represent something incredibly significant to me. This tree was like something out of a fairy tale—huge, majestic, and beautiful. I wanted to climb it. However, the first limb was way out of my reach and, unlike most trees, beech trees have smooth, silver-gray bark, which make them more difficult to climb. I had scaled a lot of trees, but this old beech looked beyond my capabilities.

I circled that beech for days looking for a way to get up it. Over and over, I tried and failed, followed by yet another slide down the trunk or the loss of my footing before making a quick leap beyond the snaky roots. Day after day, I twisted my body, jabbed my Chucks onto a hole, grabbed a small knot, shimmied up one side and then another until I finally got a toehold and a grip high enough to barely reach that first huge branch jutting out of the tree’s side. Now, if I could just hoist my body up onto that high, massive limb! With one more big effort, I had done it. I had made it up and finally accomplished what I set out to do.

Our goals in life, both personal and professional, aren’t unlike the beech tree I had my eye on in the Pine Woods of Tennessee. Life is literally a beech; intimidating in some ways, alluring in others, and typically presenting several different ways to scale it. When I look back on this experience and how it mirrors life and our goals, I realize the process can be broken down into three manageable and actionable parts.

Find It Before You Climb It

What are the trees you want to climb? What has you looking up? What are the dreams and goals you want to climb and conquer? You have to pick a tree before you can climb it. That is, you must know your goals before you can embark on achieving them. It seems so obvious, but few people take the time to clearly determine their goals. Know what you want.

Claim It As Your Own

Along with identifying the tree you plan to climb is making your intention known. After writing down your goals, visualize them as if they are already a part of your life. I must have climbed that beech tree fifty times in my mind before I really did it. There is something almost inexplicable about the process of writing down your goals and visualizing them that increases the odds of you making the mental “decision” to achieve them and following through. And don’t skip the writing—a Forbes article noted that this single action can increase your chances of success by up to 150 percent.

Stick With It

Lastly, you have to be willing to circle your goal tree – that massive beech tree of yours—until you are able to get to the first limb. Climbing your goal tree won’t be easy and will take a good amount of gumption—a mix of drive, passion, and creativity. Eventually, you’ll grab on and hoist yourself up, ready to lift yourself up to new heights. Until then, the key is persistence. The truth is, tree climbing is not for the faint of heart. Every tree is different. It takes planning and tenacity to scale the tough ones. Even with a good start, you may need to change your approach to get to the most elusive limbs. It’s no different with the achieving the greatest goals in our lives.