It's January and You're Excited!

It’s January and you’re excited. A whole new year awaits you. You have a clean slate from which to start over. Your mind fills with amazing possibilities. It feels as if this is the big chance you've been waiting for your entire life (or at least the last 365 days of it!). You take a big step out into the world. Your skies are filled with sunshine and your energy is brimming. It feels truly amazing to be alive!

And then, as if by some cruel twist of fate, out of the corner of your eye you see a cloud enter your world from a distant horizon. You turn your head to take a closer look. You feel your energy dissipate as you watch it rapidly grow in size and stature until it literally envelopes you! Uncertain of how to advance, you then retreat back into what's comfortable for you and dream of sunnier days.

This is the way many of us experience the goal setting process. We’re excited about our own potential but feel daunted when we actually take steps outside of ourselves to organise our thoughts and commit to them.

So should you be setting goals this year?

So should you rise above your resistance and just go ahead and set some goals anyway? Well I am going to be a little controversial here and say that it depends upon where you are on your own self development journey. What do you mean it depends I hear you cry? Well let me explain…

There are three groups of people.

For the purpose of this explanation, I am going to say that people can be broken down into three core groups. The results you will be able to achieve through goal setting will depend upon which group you belong to;

1. Those who are connected to their purpose2. Those who are connected to someone else’s purpose3. Those people who aren’t connected to any purpose.

(1) You’re connected to your purpose.

Connection to your purpose simply means that you have an appreciation of why you have been put on the planet. You are aware of your reason for being and the contribution that you would like to make in the world.

If you are connected to your purpose you will find setting yourself some measurable goals a deeply powerful exercise. Setting goals will help you to clarify your purpose further and sharpen your mind towards the full realisation of your dreams.

Action Steps: Think long and hard about the person you would like to become 10 years from now and then think about the things that you need to work on this year to make that vision of yourself a reality.

Once you have a clear picture in your mind, write down your visions and start striding towards your infinite possibilities.

(2) You’re connected to someone else’s purpose.

Connection to someone else’s purpose means that you have a deep understanding of what someone else wants for your life and you’ve aligned yourself with this purpose, eg, your employer, your family, your peer group, society etc.

If you are connected to someone else’s purpose, you may achieve what you set out to, but when you arrive there, there’s every possibility that you won’t experience the deep sense of fulfilment that you are capable of experiencing.

Action Steps: Before you take steps to set your goals for 2006, take some time to think about the things that you really want and ask yourself whether or not they are truly your own.

As soon as you uncover the wants and desires that are truly your own, you will begin to connect with your life force and the goal setting process will take on a completely new meaning for you.

(3) You’re not connected to any purpose.

If you feel as if you haven’t yet connected to your true purpose the most important thing you can do is to create some time and space for personal exploration.

Goal setting can be largely an intellectual process whereas I believe connecting to your true purpose is effectively a spiritual and emotional exercise. Most people experience difficulty with the goal setting process because they begin looking for the answers inside their heads instead of first looking inside their hearts.

Action Steps: Put your goal setting on hold for the time being and start by making a commitment to living more fully. Try doing things you have never done before. Take some chances. Get out there and meet some new people. Say yes more often.

Once you start building an awareness of the things that make you feel truly alive, you will be in a much more purposeful and powerful state to start writing down the things that you really want out of life!

Goals work best when they are deeply connected to your purpose!

Goals work best when they are deeply connected to your purpose. With this in mind, if you give yourself one gift this year, let it be the permission to move towards the things you love to do.

When you connect to your true purpose and align your goals to that purpose, you not only ignite your own spirit, but you also increase your human potential to touch, captivate and excite all those people you come into contact with.