Goals Without Chains

You do not need to know whose car it is, you only need to notice what it stirs in you. Maybe it reminds you of an unfinished dream you carry in primer. Maybe a business or a version of yourself you haven’t met yet. You can see the outline. You can imagine the sound it would make at full song. And yet, right now, it sits between “not yet” and “maybe never.” This is where the tension lives, between goals and expectations.

As a goal, it’s clear: finish the car, create a machine that moves and flies down a back road. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the sound; it has to be glorious. As an expectation, it could become a prison: it must be finished by summer, it must look exactly like the render, it must be perfect, people must approve. The moment the mind clings to that script, the beauty of the in-between starts to feel like an insult instead of a gift.

The photo of the silent, half-formed car is a snapshot of courage. Someone, somewhere, had a vision and was willing to stand in the awkward middle. Willing to be seen in the “not yet.” Willing to trust that form emerges one adjustment at a time. You are allowed the same grace. Your goals matter. Aim them clearly and move toward them steadily but let go of the script that says life must match the picture in your head to be good.

Today, let this image be a reminder that you can be beautifully, defiantly unfinished and still already on your perfect road.