The beginning of any new year brings to us new opportunities. It's a powerful time. We set goals for the next 12 months…all of the fabulous experiences we want to welcome into our lives…important areas we want to improve. Often, we get off to a great start. We head to the gym, change our diet, re-work our resume, begin a new hobby, or research how to quell that pesky addiction to shopping, for example. We’re certain that each of our goals are important, and we have good intentions to carry them through…but do we?
Unfortunately for many of us, we set ourselves up for failure. Instead of choosing goals that are meaningful for us individually, we set goals that are ultimately for someone else’s benefit. We want to lose weight so we can “keep” our partner or attract a new one. We want to quit smoking because the landlady prohibits it in her rental unit, and we’re tired of standing outside in the cold to smoke. We want a new job because our 10 year high school reunion is coming up, and we don’t want to look like a failure. We decide to take up guitar lessons because our therapist says we need some kind of a release in life.
We do a little research, make plans, pay the required fees or commitment of time, and start off down the road of disillusionment. Wait, what? Why disillusionment? Ah yes, disillusionment because we initially thought this goal was truly what we wanted. We ended up taking some steps in the process but somehow feel unfulfilled. Now, we resent the process, and the steps we’ve taken, because it isn’t working…we’re disillusioned.
Finally, after just a few short days or weeks, we abandon our goals altogether and justify it with a flippant, “Well, that’s not really what I wanted.” Exactly! If it isn’t what you want, my darlings…how can you possibly feel fulfilled by it?
So, let’s commit to taking some time to look at the goals we have set, to revising them and setting powerful new intentions, with the very first intention being: I honor myself and my desires. Let’s evaluate each and every goal we have set and determine whether it is a goal for us individually or a means to simply make someone else happy.
To illustrate this point, let's look at the weight loss example. Instead of saying we want to lose weight (with the unsaid motive being to “keep” or attract a partner), why not set the intention of being healthy for YOU. In doing this, you can affirm daily:
I am healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
I only allow healthy foods and substances into my body.
My body is completely balanced and in its most perfect state.
As you repeat these affirmations, your very words are a powerful reminder to your subconscious mind. And as you speak in the present tense, it is as if what you are saying is already so. You are setting the foundation for success and conditioning your mind to make it so.
It doesn’t matter the goal you set, the only requirement is that you do it for yourself. Are you ready to set those intentions and commit to follow-through for YOU?
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