This week I spent the day with a Boy Scout troop doing a 5-mile compass course.  “What is that?” You’re asking.  Well, let me tell you it shouldn’t be as complicated as the young boys made it.

Each young man was given a map with marked points on it to find.  By orienting their map and using the degrees of a compass, they were to pick a landmark and walk to each point designated.  Simple, right?  Uh…kind of.

The problem wasn’t in their ability to understand the map or even find the degrees on the compass.  They struggled to keep their eyes on their chosen landmark as they walked, causing them to constantly veer off course.

The event managed to be hilarious and frustrating at the same time.  And, for me, really showed the importance of not only setting goals in our lives, but the need to constantly align the choices we make each day with those goals.  Without landmarks or goals in this life, it is so easy to get off course, it’s why we’re told to set goals in the first place, but if you never look up to see where you’re going, you’re going to find yourself far from the place you desired to be, just like my poor Boy Scouts.

Remember, it’s much easier to make small adjustments than big ones, so check those goals often and maybe you won’t find yourself so far off course as they did.