Category Archives: Good For The Soul

*Office Memo From The Universe*

This is to inform you that 2017 is almost half over. All inhabitants are requested to fill out a satisfaction survey and kindly return it to the Interstellar Head Office along with your personal, 6 month progress report by July 15th.

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Wow, who knew that the universe could be such a hard ass. Okay, just kidding around folks, but seriously, how has your year been going so far?

I ask because, if you are like me, you may have let some of your goals slide a bit by now. I say this with gentle intent because I, like you, have had other things going on in my life besides all those goals and dreams I confidently wrote down late last year with zeal and purpose. It’s okay, I get it.

The good news is that there is still 6 months left in 2017. Half a year to get back on track and finish strong. So here is some inspiration to help you reboot your year and make real progress towards realising your dreams. See if you see yourself in one of these scenarios.

 

Are You A Non-Starter?

 

Does this sound like you? “I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because they only set me up for failure.”

Yeah, I get that. Why knowingly make yourself fail. I mean, who wants to be a loser.

If this sounds like you then what I am really hearing is, “I am afraid that I don’t have what it takes to achieve the big goals.”

So make smaller goals.

Here’s the thing, putting a big dream out there is really scary.

Let’s say you want to lose weight. (I use this example because it is so universal.) In your mind you have a vision of yourself, svelte and totally in shape and ecstatically happy. The more you envision the “dream you”, the more overwhelmed you become as reality sets in and you realise what it’s going to take to achieve this goal. It’s daunting, it feels like it will take forever and you just can not wrap your head around all that will be required of you to become that dream self.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Lao Tzu

So consider breaking down the big dream into weekly goals, or daily goals, or if you have to, hourly goals, and then focus only on that one unit of time.

“Today, I am going to walk for one hour.” or “This week, I am going to cut out sugar in my coffee.” Or if this is a really scary dream for you, “In this moment, I feel like snacking but I am going to wait for an hour and then have an early dinner instead.”

Big goals are hella scary and seem to live far off in the distant and mysterious land of “someday”. But if you take little bitty steps each and every day, in six months time you will have made real progress towards the dream of a healthier you.

Each step taken builds on the last and bolsters your confidence little by little until real results can be seen and before you know it, that big scary dream is becoming real.

So instead of avoiding the big dreams, make a small goal everyday and only focus on achieving it.

In the second half of the year, there are approximately 182 days. If you do nothing, all’s you will get at the end of the year, is 182 days older.

Now imagine where 182 daily small goals will take you towards whatever dream you hold dear in your heart by the end of the year.

 

Have You Lost Momentum?

 

Maybe this is you. You leapt from the starting gate at the beginning of the year, eager and with a plan. Goals were being checked off in record time, things were going great and you were seeing real progress. Then you stalled and life got in the way.

Confession – this is me.

What is really happening here is a loss of focus. It is not an issue of not knowing what you need to do, or even how to do it. If you are like me, you took your eye off the goal and your attention got pulled to other issues.

This is life folks. There will always be other, just as important issues that will come up. So instead of looking at being stalled with frustration, consider changing your perspective completely and look at the loss of focus as an opportunity.

Yeah, you read it right. Before you get all negative and riddled with guilt, and before you start mentally flogging yourself for once again failing at life, give yourself a free pass, take a time out and review the progress achieved thus far. Ask yourself, what went right and what didn’t.

Consider this review as a mid-term report card. Look for the “A” subjects and congratulate yourself.

Then, realistically look at the area’s in need of improvement. How can you refine the original plan to reflect what you have learned so far before you start up again on your dream or goal.

Once you take the time to refocus, you will be able to continue on with new purpose and intent.

Think of it like you are a sailboat out on the ocean who has lost the wind and has stalled; your sails deflated and fluttering. In order to catch the wind again and cruise forward, you must adjust the trim of your sails to accommodate the fickle and ever changing winds.

Losing momentum is not a death sentence. It is a gift. Take the time to reflect, revise and revive. Then start back at it and use what insights you have gleaned from that fallow time to finish the year stronger than ever.

 

Are You Living The Dream?

 

“No problems here,” you’re thinking. “I am on track and achieving exactly what I planned out. I can’t believe how easy it’s been. I just made some goals and followed my dream and it’s all good.”

That’s awesome! You are an inspiration.

But before you leave a mark from patting yourself on the back so hard, here’s a question to ask yourself. Have you achieved your goals so easily because you sold yourself short?

I remember bringing home a grade 5 report card where my teacher wrote in the comment section, “Diana is not working to her full potential.”

Well that hurt. My marks weren’t bad. In fact, I thought I’d done pretty darn well. How could she possibly know what my potential was?

Accept, deep down in my 10 year old mind, I knew I could do better. But why do better when good enough was, good enough.

You see, if there is no challenge in achieving the goals you set out for yourself, then maybe you are not making the goals big enough.

This is one of the reasons successful people hire coaches. A coach will push you to attempt bigger challenges. They can look at our potential with out the rosy filters we tend to apply to our personal abilities and shine light in corners that we choose to avoid, because in our minds, being good enough, is good enough.

If I have offended you with this idea, if you think that I can’t possibly know what I am talking about and that achieving your dream goals have been easy for you because you took the time to prepare thoroughly and planned for ever eventuality, then except my humble apology and again, I congratulate you on your speedy success. Keep up the fine work and continue with your plans for the rest of 2017.

But… if there is a twinge of guilt at the thought that maybe there is a grain of truth here, and maybe you have set the bar a might bit low, then before you embark on the next 6 months do yourself a favour and raise the bar some. Challenge yourself to improve your good enough and finish off 2017 with an outcome for your dream that is far better than you were willing to ever imagine.

 

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As for the universe and its half year check in report. Well, there is no surprises here. The universe already knows of the infinite possibities that you are capable of. It only wanted to remind you of that fact. Are you listening?