For a period in my life, I gave up on setting goals or making New Year’s resolutions because I found I rarely followed through on my goals.  I can’t even remember what some of those resolutions were – maybe to exercise on a regular basis, to eat healthier meals.  What sticks out is that I never diligently pursued them.

After going through some life changing experiences (possibly called a midlife crisis, or, more nurturing to Self, a rebirth), I decided at the end of 2006 to start setting yearly goals again.  I also began reading Sonia Choquette’s books and found myself drawn by her teachings in “Your Heart’s Desire”.  It took me several readings but I decided that, in order to find my own heart’s desire, I had to determine what was most important in my life.

In her book, Sonia Choquette listed ten categories that one might want to work on or improve upon:

1.       Health and Body – physical health and well-being

2.      Finances – Income, savings, money for purchases, adventures and indulgences

3.      Relationships – love, romance, family, friends, pets

4.      Home – buying, selling, renting, designing where you live

5.      Work – where you want to work, what you want to do, the rewards you want to receive

6.      Creative Expression – singing, dancing, painting, healing, writing, cooking, etc

7.      Travel/Adventure – travel, recreation, world exploration, new experiences

8.      Possessions – physical objects and property that may make your daily life more joyous

9.      Spiritual – personal discovery, recovering personal power, expanding intuitive awareness

10.  Special Intention – anything else not covered above 

I started off with Sonia Choquette’s list but, along the journey, also found others:

1.      Family

2.      Hobbies and sports activities

3.      Career and economic

4.      Personal growth

5.      Attitude

6.      Artistic

7.      Education

8.      Physical

9.      Pleasure

10.  Public Service

I spent a lot of time “thinking” about what was most important to me in terms of the various components of my life.  What emerged was a realization that I needed a solid foundation in the following areas:  Spirituality, Relationships (Family & Friends), Home, and Health & Body (or SELF).  I felt that, from this base, I could then more easily reach for other heartfelt desires:  Work/career/passion, Creative Expression, and Public Service.  The benefits or outcome, I believed, would be Financial Security, Possessions, and Travel/Adventure.

In the next step of my self-exploration, I wrote goals and aspirations for each category.  With regards to Relationships, I set the intention to never take family and friends for granted and to share what I have – even if it is time and a smile.  In the area of “Home”, I’m trying to simplify my life and clear our house of clutter, letting go of the things that we no longer need, and creating a peaceful and warm home.  Over the past year, I’ve worked on all the areas of my life that I consider important but found that it’s helpful to set priorities and measurable benchmarks. 

As we approach 2009, I’m working on my list of resolutions for the new year, with a slight twist.  Being a visual person – I’ve always liked writing down my goals, doodling and drawing flow charts (that’s the business training coming through) – when I heard a friend (www.laurahames.com) was creating a vision board, the idea resonated with me.  I thought “Great!  I’ll put together a vision board to aid me in realizing my goals for the coming year.”  A few weeks ago, I started researching vision boards and found several interesting articles on the internet.  My favorite is a blog written by Christine Kane in which she describes how to make a vision board (http://christinekane.com/blog/how-to-make-a-vision-board/).  

Other blogs I found of interest are:

        1.      http://o-my-goodness.livejournal.com/29077.html

        2.      http://www.sethigherstandards.com/creating-a-vision-board/

3.      http://youalreadyknowthisstuff.blogspot.com/2007/02/whats-secret-to-secret.html

 

I’m in the process of creating my 2009 vision board – it’s almost done!  Surprisingly, as I clipped words and images from magazines, I found myself tweaking my building blocks.  My Foundation remains the same but I had to acknowledge that, in order to achieve some of my loftier dreams, I need Financial Stability in my life.  I’m really happy with what I’ve put together so far – inspired to start the new year and to continue creating the life I want to live!