Most people in this world desire to achieve, to accomplish, to progress, to move forward. Unfortunately, most of those same people will feel a sense of failure and under-achievement as they struggle to make progress and fall short of the expectations that are placed upon them by themselves and others.
There are so many people who not only do not realise their dreams and aspirations but also fail to plan and actively aspire to them. So many people don’t even get started on the steps required to improve their life change their circumstances and enjoy successes, why?
There are numerous reasons for this; there are the emotional blockers that prevent people from trying such as fear and lack of motivation which leaves them feeling hopeless and discouraged. And of course, there’s also the fact that a lot of people don’t fully understand how to set achievable actionable goals to assist them to realise their dreams or reach their full potential.
Basically, many people tend to be programmed to stick with the ‘status quo’, people are resistant to change. Beginning and sustaining long-lasting change can be tough, so it’s not surprising that many of us continually put it on the back burner to be started tomorrow or ‘another day’.
But here’s the thing, when you are aware of the traps that are keeping you confined to forever accepting the ’status quo’, you will be able to avoid them and set yourself free!
How would you rather feel; fearful, discouraged and disillusioned, or hopeful, encouraged and triumphant?
In order to feel joy, pride and elation at achieving success in any area of your life, you first need to dig deep and get clear on what it is you truly want for YOU, what it is you are passionate about changing and what you would like to accomplish.
The trick is to be specific. By being completely clear on what you want to change or achieve, by totally committing to the process and by applying drive and determination to actionable steps you will be able to enjoy being victorious and celebrate your wins!
I could write about goal setting all day, there is a wealth of established research out there which makes for a compelling argument and proves that setting realistic, achievable but difficult goals actually promote greater drive and increase both our productivity and attainment.
One of the most famous pieces of research is that of Edwin Locke, an industrial and organisational psychologist. But, I haven’t actually got all day so let’s leave the research and science bit for now and get on to how you can actually get on with setting your goals and achieving your aims.
HOW DO YOU SET YOUR GOALS?
There are many ways you can do this but I like to break it down from looking at larger life goals firstly, then breaking these down even further to smaller targets that will help to hit your aims. Grab a pen and a journal or a notepad – you can find a free printable journal download to get you started on my website as well as my facebook group the Secretly Spiritual Sofa. It will be helpful for you to jot your answers down to the following:
- What is your overall aim, your large scale goal that you’d like to achieve? Think about the whole picture here, they may take considerable time to implement but think big, where would you like to be in 5 or 10 years’ time, what would you like to be doing?
Examples of these life goals are, changing career to find a job you love or implementing a self-care transformation such as becoming fitter and healthier and caring for your spiritual and emotional needs. Jot these down! - Now it’s time to break each of the long-term goals you have jotted down into smaller aims, targets that you can work towards reaching along the way to help you achieve your life goals. So what can you do in the next 10 years, 5 years, 12 months, each month, each week, every-day, to move you ever closer to your goals?
Now you have your plan, it’s time to get to work and to take ACTION to ensure you achieve your goals, improve your life and basically feel awesome!
How does thinking about achieving your goal make you feel? Exited, nervous, hopeful, overwhelmed, anxious, scared?
Write down all the words that spring to mind to describe how you feel. Noting down your thoughts and feelings as you set your goals will assist you to gain clarity on your ambitions. It will also be a great reflective tool when you look back and refer to what you wrote as you make progress.
It may help you to set specific goals related to different areas of your life. For example, work, study, relationships, financial, health. Make sure you set goals that inspire you, shout out to your soul, stir you up and give you a buzz. This way you are more likely to remain driven to stick at it rather than give up.
Here are 10 examples of personal goals for inspiration:
- Read a new helpful and inspiring book each month for a year·
- Journal for 10 minutes every day for a month
- Don’t use the internet/gadgets for a whole day each week
- Don’t consume sugar for 2 days each week
- Improve sleep – go to bed early 3 nights per week for a month
- Limit spending on non-necessities by……per month
- Enjoy a date night once per month
- Exercise for 30 minutes 3 times per week
- Call a loved one twice a week for a month
- Carry out a small random act of kindness every day for 7 days
So where does Spirituality and The Tarot come into it?
Sometimes with all this goal setting, manifesting and intention setting it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Where on earth do you start, which goal do you tackle first?
Tapping into your own spirituality, your powers within can be of great help. The Tarot as a tool allows you to do just this! The Tarot can help you to understand how to achieve your aims and provide clarity on which goal to start with which will help to reduce the chances of you throwing in the towel on your goals too early!
Simple Tarot Exercises will assist you to ‘go within’, to listen and to trust your intuition, which I believe always has your back!
Happy Goal Setting!
Shelley Anita Secretly Spiritual
Originally published at SecretlySpiritual.com