A North Star, Not Another Finish Line

From Shared Moments with Michelle · 11:43

Show by Michelle L. Potter

Welcome back. This is Day 9 of our ten days on purpose and meaning. If you’re just joining us, you can start with Day 1, The Frustration That Keeps Returning. If you listened to the audio, thank you. This post is the written side of the conversation.Yesterday, we talked about trust and why permission was never the missing piece. Today I want to talk about direction, and what changes when you stop aiming at a finish line and start walking toward a North Star.The verdict inside a finish lineA finish line is a goal that has a verdict hidden inside it. When I hit this number, when this launches, when this person finally approves, then I will be someone who made it. A goal like that carries a sentence underneath it, and the sentence is not really about the goal. It’s about worth. It is the old story saying you will be enough once you arrive.So you arrive, and the relief lasts a few days. Then the line moves. There is a bigger number, a better launch, another person to impress. The finish line was never the problem. The story attached to it kept the finish line from ever being reached.A North Star works differentlyYou never arrive at a North Star. You orient by it. It tells you which way you’re heading and who you are becoming on the way there, and it lets you make today’s decisions without waiting for a result to prove anything. Specific results still matter. I want them, and I’ll talk about mine in a moment. The difference is that the results serve the direction. They are not the place where I find out whether I’m allowed to feel at home in my own life.My own NOW GoalHere is my own, because I would rather show you than explain it. I wrote a NOW Goal. A NOW Goal is written in the present tense, as though it is already true, and that is not a trick. It gives my mind a place to stand while the work is still happening.My particular NOW Goal is about building a business that replaces my previous income through work that I actually love. As most of you know, I’m launching Lived Logic in the summer of 2027. That is a commitment I made to myself, and I will get it done.Past that launch, I have a vision. I’m growing Lived Logic toward a community of 1,000 readers, and I’m building at least $15,000 a month in sustainable income through my writing, collaborations, partnerships, my Substack, my books, retreats, and the coaching that I choose to do. Whether all of that arrives by summer 2027, I do not know, and I’m okay with that. Building an audience, relationships, and sustainable income takes time. I’m not changing the direction because the results have not arrived yet. That is what the NOW Goal does for me. It keeps me anchored to what I’m creating, even when the timeline unfolds differently than I imagined.A NOW Goal is more than a statementI want to explain something about the NOW Goal, because hearing mine could make it sound as though all you need to do is write down what you want, put it into the present tense, and start working toward it. There is more to it than that.The goal itself is only one part. Before we can create a direction that reflects who we are, we have to understand what has been influencing us in the first place. We look at the stories we’ve carried, the expectations we accepted, the beliefs we developed about ourselves, and the patterns that keep showing up in our lives. We also explore what matters to us, what we want to experience, and the kind of life we are choosing to create. That can be very different from the goals we have spent years pursuing.Then we connect that understanding to a direction. We are not simply choosing a result. We are recognizing who we are becoming and what needs to change in how we think, respond, and decide as we move toward it, including the stories controlling those things. So I don’t really see the NOW Goal as a goal-setting exercise. It becomes part of the deeper identity work, and it’s something we keep working with as life unfolds.A goal that grows with meThere’s another part of the NOW Goal that matters just as much. It is not something I write once and never revisit. It grows as I grow. When I reach a milestone, whether that takes six months, two years, or longer, I get to recognize what I have created and decide what comes next.The magazine launch is one milestone. Growing to 1,000 readers is another. As the magazine grows, the readers will grow, so I set my goal at just 1,000 readers for now, because that is a stretch at this present moment. Building sustainable income that replaces what I earned before is another. I had a very well-paying job, and then the company made different decisions in different directions, so I’m no longer earning that previous income.I want you to know that each one matters, and reaching one does not mean the journey is finished. My experiences will keep shaping what I want, what I value, and what I’m ready to create, and my NOW Goal can change right along with me. That is why I do not see it as a finish line. It gives me direction…

More episodes of Shared Moments with Michelle

More episodes

PodSearch is a free, independent podcast search engine. Read about PodSearch, the privacy policy or contact us.