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!
