Setting Goals vs. Creating a Vision
SOLO
Every year I get really excited for the new year to come. You know, that feeling where it feels like a blank slate is right in front of you. But then every year I write down a bunch of things I am going to ‘do’ and ‘accomplish the upcoming year and I would drop the ball so to say, all year long. After repeating this pattern year after year, I got tired. I wondered why things weren’t getting done and I got rather frustrated about it. Last year I had had enough and decided to start my year a little bit differently. I had the thought, what if I entered the year with a word, kind of like like a piece of your favorite candy that you hold in your back pocket for a rainy day. That word would help remind me of all my rigid goals and for suuuurrrrre I would get them all done. So at the beginning of 2020, I chose the word trust. To say that word carried me through the year is an understatement. But here’s the thing, this word shifted into something that I didn’t expect. This word turned INTO my vision. When I felt anxious about an outcome, I would remember TRUST. When I didn’t know if my workplace would re-open, TRUST. When I left my partner but had this feeling I would be back with him, TRUST. As the year continued this word became the support system for my overall vision for mySelf. And that’s when I realized a vision was way more important than goals.
Now, I’m not saying goals are bad. What I am saying is it depends on where those goals and your overall intention are coming from. We’ve been raised in a culture that values doing and when we do more we are validated so we continue to push and push and push. So when the new year comes around we get excited and think ‘what a great time to set up all my doing for the year ahead’ because if we have all our doing set up, we are worthy. This leaves us chasing and pushing for reasons we don’t know, leaving us feeling burnt out by march and completely depleted by the middle of the year where we drag out those fumes until Decemebr where we look at our list then feel shame for not completing it. This cycle SUCKS. Cue the word. This year when I chose to take a more feminine approach it felt weird, but it worked. I invite you to sit down, take a few deep breaths and think about a word you’d like to invite into this year. That word could be balance, love, trust, you get what I’m putting down. This word becomes the start of your vision. Not your mom’s vision, not your partner’s vision, YOUR vision. This becomes your why. The why behind your choices all year long. The knowing that each year builds and stacks on the next and that with each daily choice we build our vision, our life. Letting go of the idea that our completed goals are what make us or break us.
Now for the fun part, we get to practice using our imagination. Adults aren’t the best at using their imaginations because we’ve been told no a lot throughout our lives. The world we live in likes to tell us we have to fit in a box that they’ve created for us and that’s just not the case. When we begin to play in this world, anything is possible and it is NOT the time to colour inside the lines. There are 7 buckets you want to dream about when you begin -
F o u n d a t i o n | money, food, housing
C r e a t i v i t y | sex, cooking, art, dancing
M o v e m e n t | health appointments, exercise, rest
R e l a t i o n s h i p s | family, friends, colleagues, communities
P u r p o s e | job, side hustle, dream
S e l f | emotions, mindset, love
J o y | hobbies, places, people
This differs from goal setting because many of us just focus on our body and our income when setting goals. Here we touch upon and begin to dream of a well-rounded vision that supports all of the energetic buckets that we need as humans. Now what you would do is tackle one bucket at a time, no rush and it’s actually totally okay if you don’t do it all in one sitting. This vision is something that you can continue to add on and shift as your year goes on AND as a check point at the end of the year to see if you still have that vision or those desires. This eliminates that shame and guilt at the end of the year. Knowing that this is ever shiftin begins to release the pressure and expectation and begin to feel more ease + flow in your life.
So you’ve got your word and you’ve begun to dive into bringing a vision to life for each of your life buckets but you don’t know where to start. I had this feeling too. I found my mind coming into the game and telling me ‘shoulds’ and ‘have to’s’ that no longer served MY vision for mySelf. To support you through this process I’ve put together some journal prompts and affirmations to help you begin this shift. For the journal prompts you can ask yourSelf all or none for each bucket. When your feminine imposter comes in with doubt or shame for asking for big bold things use the affirmations to begin to let go of that old mindset. HERE WE GO -
Journal Prompts
How do I currently feel in this life bucket (be honest)?
How do I desire to feel in this life bucket (dream big)?
What am I doing in my highest vision for mySelf?
Is this vision for me or someone else?
What have I always wanted but have been too afraid to say out loud?
Affirmations
I choose to lead with joy.
Anything is possible when I take inspired action.
I have the power to embody my wholeness.
This life is here for me.
I am deserving of all of my deep desires.
When I did this for the first time, it felt weird, it felt different than the way I was taught and it felt uncomfortable. The more I practiced allowing mySelf to dream and to imagine mySelf in my vision, the easier it got to make tiny choices each day to support mySelf in getting there. When doubt snuck in this year, I reminded mySelf of my word. When I felt confused on my purpose or my why, I headed to my vision and did a check in. Did this vision still feel authentic to me. Sometimes I mad slight shifts and expansions and sometimes I just need that little reminder nudge to keep going. This is how you begin to build the vision you have for yourSelf. This is how you begin to expand and have those surreal moments that you think, ‘holy, how did I get here’ and the answer will be YOU. You consciously participated in brining this life to fruition and soaking it in along the way. So this year, will you be setting goals or a vision?
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