If you’re going to commit to anything worthwhile, do it with all your heart. That’s what they say, at least.

As I’ve seen time and time again, however, people lose interest in professional and personal goals. Distractions, work, life events and perhaps changing directions are reasons, but often there’s no real clear answer as to why we’ve lost sight of those worthwhile goals. Is it because we didn’t work toward them with all our heart?

As if they belong on a primetime detective drama, those goals just seem to vanish, don’t they? We’re not sure what exactly stole them, we don’t know whodunit, and we definitely don’t have an exact plan for bringing them back. We may not even be sure who to assign to the case.

I know I at times have started out in pursuit of a goal and all stepping stones to achieve it, and somewhere along the way I got distracted with life. And many of these can be categorized as “worthwhile”. But on the days when I feel discouraged about this, I think about the matters of the heart. These are the missions I’ve always been pursuing, the ones that I refuse to give up on. They may have a slight presence on a profile or resume, but ultimately, they reside in my heart. They’ve been in my heart all along (even if I’ve been attentive elsewhere in the short term), and thus that old saying is unnecessary.

I’d argue that matters of the heart are very much different than a “worthwhile commitment”, and that even life events do not change the pursuit of them. It’s important to identify which professional and personal goals are matters of the heart, and which ones would be nice to have. It’s important because it’s one of the keys to the feeling of success, and if you observe people who have achieved success in whatever way you define it, you will see they’ve distinguished between the two.

I don’t know one person that has achieved everything they’ve wanted to in life and can say with all certainty they have no goals, no bucket list and no more professional aspirations. But many prioritize their aspirations.

I do, too. Why? Because I know that no matter what happens in life and where it takes me, there are a couple objectives and plans I cannot lose sight of. People, parties, travel, family events and new friends may come and go, but matters of the heart don’t. That’s why we chart our courses. As long as the ship is steered in the right direction (and we’re all Captains of our own ships), it can only be rocked as much as I allow it to be. And if I find my ship is having a hard time weathering the storm? Well, it helps to be prepared, and my advice for anyone reading this is always know your own ship and which direction you’re steering it, and that way you can plan for a lot of possible storms.

So there are a lot of goals I have set, and many would be nice to have. But there are a very select few that are matters of the heart, and those I will never stop pursuing as I continue on. They are the “Star” that I’m traveling to, however long it takes to get there. I’d encourage everyone to identify their own, because sooner or later discouragement may show up, and we’ll need to remind ourselves that we haven’t lost what’s in our heart…even if we didn’t get the nice to have goal. We’ll probably need help from those we trust professionally and personally, and we’ll find ourselves helping others too. It’s just as rewarding to be a shipmate for someone on their course as it is to be the Captain on your own.

We never find our matters of the heart have vanished, just as I’ve never seen a detective drama set on the High Seas. That’s why I identify the goals that are nice to have as I sail along with and for the matters of the heart.

It’s probably time I familiarize myself with the Navigation Rules of boating….and maybe look into a Marine GPS system.