What is a life without goals? We’ve all known people, including ourselves at times that wander aimlessly through life without goals. We fritter our away time watching television or just bumming around. The potential is there but we lack direction or motivation. Life feels meaningless – a ship without it’s rudder.

During times of transition or loss it is normal to loose direction, feel paralyzed, wonder and not know when it will all end. This process although it feels empty is also important. Before we can fill a bucket with fresh water we have to empty it out. When the bucket is finally empty one finds a readiness and a real need to reach beyond feelings of loss to find new direction. Although ready for new direction, without new goals it is easy to become discouraged and slip back into old modes of thinking and doing. Now is the time to set goals.

A few highly motivated individuals find setting goals an unconscious process that comes easily. The majority of people find they will have to work at it, in fact many individuals have no idea how to put their lives in motion with the use of goals.

Before you begin to set goals allow yourself some time to dream. What is it you have always wanted to do? What kind of person do you want to become through work or personal life? Where do you see yourself in five, ten or thirty years? Very few people truly understand or allow their dream and desires to take shape. Dreaming is not self-indulgent. Without dreams we are destined to only skim the surface of life rather than living it to it’s fullest.

Next identify your purpose. This unifies, solidifies and will help you gain focus. Authors of "DARE TO WIN", Hanson & Canfield state "A purpose is the underlying direction that gives meaning to our goals- leaves attached to a growing tree have the purpose of keeping that tree alive and healthy."

Learn to believe in yourself and your dream. Never doubt it and never look back. Count on roadblocks, and times of rejection and failure; use these as learning tools. Reset your course, change your tack but don’t give up, make your efforts the best and stay focused on the outcome.

Finally write your goals down using short, medium and long range plans or goals. Short-term goals are the everyday day to day tasks that add up to the bigger picture. Let’s say you are going to use foods and supplements to lower your cholesterol, but you start each day at the drive through. This is not working your short-range goal. Your medium range goal might be to have your cholesterol checked monthly to make sure that the foods and supplements you have chosen are working to bring the numbers down. The long range goal would not only include the lowered cholesterol but the real benefits of having improved health, more energy, vitality, and less worry about a heart attack or other related health problems.

When the time comes that you lose your direction, and we all do, looking at your written goals will help you stay focused on the outcome. They reaffirm your belief in yourself and your ability to live your dreams.

other tips –

1. Dream big, but be realistic- with your self and in your goal setting.

2. Getting there should be a big part of the fun. If it isn’t fun, then maybe you need to reassess your purpose.

3. Don’t take yourself or your failures too seriously.

4. Have a belief in a higher power and don’t be afraid to ask.

5. Be willing to take a risk! You may fear that you won’t achieve your goals and feel like a loser. Join the club. It’s a known fact that those that fail the most end up succeeding more often than not.

Till next time, Rebecca.