Happy New Year!
Ok, so you sit down with your journal at the beginning of every new year. Or you have the latest and greatest new planner and now it’s time to sit down and talk goal setting…. right?
I did it every year. For YEARS. I did all the right things; all the things all the business coaches and personal development gurus tell you, right?
- Review your year: what went right? What went wrong?
- Look ahead 5 years. Where do you want to be?
- Break it down into 1 year increments
- Break it down into exactly what you will do this year to get to that goal.
- Achieve that goal.
The problem is… that has never EVER worked. Not for me. And I have yet to meet a real person that it worked for, other than the ones who pretend it works and continue to teach it.
SMART goals, right? Everyone tells you that SMART goals are structured enough to get you where you want to go.
Specific
Measureable
Actionable
Realistic
Time-Bound
Right?
I’ve done that. For YEARS. What people told me I could achieve I wrote down and believed. I believed it. Only none of these goals ever came to fruition in the “time bound” area where I listed them.
So, then comes phase 2 of the annual planning: the deep shame for not achieving what I thought I was going to achieve. Followed by an intense tailspin into “what am I doing wrong?”
If you know me, you know that I am a deeply spiritual being (see my spiritual stuff at yoga_pants_and_jesus).
Jesus, The Buddha, and other spiritual guides never taught SMART goals.
In fact, they taught the following principles when it comes to achievement:
- ask and you shall receive
- knock and the door is answered
- God does not ask you to bury your savings, but will provide everything you need
- Give and you shall receive.
- use your gifts for the greater good of mankind and you will be rewarded
- what you put into the world comes back to you 10 fold
In other words, it’s not about journaling what you want and dissecting a plan to get there. It’s about giving to the world the best of yourself and watching the beauty from that unfold. It’s about praying for the best outcome for all involved. It’s about releasing your purposeful desire to the great divine and letting the universe unfold it for you.
It’s about the fact that God’s idea of who you are and who you will become is far greater than the human ideas you have of your goals.
The more I read and listen to teachings such as “A Course in Miracles,” the more I know for sure that this is true. And instead of listening to a very controlled, very earthly guidance saying “write down your 10 goals,” I choose to follow leaders like Gabby Bernstein, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, and others, who show us that aligning with the betterment of mankind and the universe, while putting out there the best of our gifting, is the way to a better life and a better world, and to manifest a world and a future far beyond our tiny dreams.
For this, I invite you, friend, to take a look at your life. And instead of minimizing yourself and time-bounding your success, that you consider asking
“I see for my life ______, and I would like to offer this to the world. I ask that my purpose be lifted to serve its greatest good. And I ask that I shall not be afraid or worried, but guided and elevated, so that my impact is far beyond what I ever expected. Amen.”
Resources:
Gabby Bernstein: Super Attractor
Marianne Williamson: The Law of Divine Compensation
Eckhart Tolle: Conscious Manifestation
Deepak Chopra: 7 Principles of Manifesting Your Desires