Those Goals

Have you ever set GOALs for yourself? Have you ever set GOALs and did not follow through on them or set GOALs and did not do what was necessary to achieve them? And…How did that make you feel?

I have set many GOALs in my life, just to set THOSE same GOALs again the following year or set them again on the date I was supposed to achieve THOSE GOALs. I did not persevere in the steps necessary to get the results I set out to get.

I would set various types of GOALs. From SMART GOALs… you know like the acronym S.M.A.R.T. GOALs that are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC (or so I thought), and TIME-BASED. To Benchmark GOALs, those tick box GOALs, the ones that make you shout out “Yay, I did it”, GOALs. I tried them all.

But as each day went by where I did not achieve something or do something that brought me closer to THOSE GOALS, I felt more and more like a failure. Or on the opposite side of the coin, achieving THOSE GOALS only to feel a great sense of emptiness after achieving them. This would then lead to asking the question “what was the purpose of all of this?”. It’s like having the GOAL to lose weight and reach that GOAL weight. NOW, WHAT!?  Do you stop with what you were doing that helped you achieve the GOAL? Do you continue? Is it going to be a lifestyle from here on out?

Or am I going to be part of a statistic saying that 90% of people that lose the weight they wanted to, in the beginning, gain all of it back and sometimes even more? 

I got so bad that the only thoughts when it came to THOSE GOALS were… you won’t achieve anything…you won’t amount to anything.

I realized that the strategy for setting my GOALs needed to change, my approach to THOSE GOALS needed to be different. For me what was needed was a complete and total perspective shift. I had to let go of all GOAL-setting measures…like the song in Frozen “let it go, let it go”, compliments of my daughter…A GOAL setting detox. 

Look GOAL setting is not a bad thing, to the contrary, it is necessary as it provides guidance and a plan to enable you to fulfil those aspects in your life you need and want. THOSE GOALS should, however, NOT make you feel inferior and like a failure.

Your consideration should be focused on your WHY. Why are you setting the GOAL you are setting? Because if you do not know your WHY you will either not persevere and achieve the GOAL or you will achieve THOSE GOALS and feel empty after doing so and left asking questions.

So, I moved away from focusing on GOALs, or anything for that matter, and as time went by, I could look at that part of my life again. When it came to it,  Instead of setting GOALs I started to look at my overarching purpose in life and what missions I needed to fulfil that purpose.

You see in my view…missions are like an expedition to an Explorer. An Explorer takes many expeditions in their life to in the end achieve the TRUE REASON, the TRUE PURPOSE of those expeditions, whatever it may be for that Explorer. 

So the missions in our lives help us on our purpose journey.

The moment I started focusing on my missions in my purpose journey something clicked. It dawned on me, like making arrangements and getting things in place for an adventure you may be taking, so are THOSE GOALS, to the missions I needed to take in my purpose journey. WOW…My GOAL setting outlook took on a wholly different form. I started seeing them be the arrangements or plans I was putting in place to ensure my missions or adventures were going to be successful.

My GOALs started to reflect my WHY. I was setting them and was able to persevere and achieve them. And as a result,…I was not feeling inferior or like a failure anymore…I was making progress.

Something to remember you would have heard me say “in or on my purpose journey”. I state it this way: your purpose is not a destination to be reached, it is not a tick box to be achieved, it is the adventure of your life. A continuous road trip or travel experience to all the most wonderful places that you can possibly imagine. And as a very intelligent lady once told me: “Do not forget to enjoy the journey” 

To conclude: GOAL setting is a great tool when used right, and that is your definition of right for you, that will help create amazing results in your life. So, I invite you to come on this mission, this adventure with me called life. Dare to explore, you will not regret it.