Don't Set Goals
by Benjamin Weale
You've clicked on the article name because you want to read something revolutionary, something new, some amazing technique or variation on the "goal setting" theme.
What you're going to get (if you read on), is an entertaining dose of reality.
Disclaimer: Ben has written this with some poetic license, needs to read it as much as anyone else, and actually has no qualifications that allow him to tell you what to do. Then again, neither does anyone else.
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How many times, in the blur of a New Year's Eve party, amongst the champagne, beer and passion pop, just after the stroke of midnight, have you sworn internally to yourself that this year will be different...
"This year I will lose weight..."
"This year I'll take up sport again..."
"This is the year I'll find a partner..."
"This year I'll ..."
Did you feel that moment? Did you feel how intensely you meant the words when you said them to yourself? So why is it that most of us, year after year, feel this intense desire to improve ourselves, then come Monday it's back to business as usual? "oh, yeah, that was a great night... but back to reality..."
Here's a question you may want to consider - How well do you know yourself?
Here's another one - How often do you connect with yourself?
I propose to not set goals - I propose you feel them. To do this you'll need to simply spend more time doing the things you love to do.
Whether it's listening to Mozart, or to Metallica, playing cricket, collecting stamps, rolling down a grassy hill at midday... In those moments, where you are doing what you absolutely love to do, do you find yourself fussing over the petty and endless goals that occupy so much mental space? Better car, different house, bigger TV, more money, less work, more travel, more exercise, less food, more food, more sex, more clothes, less fat, more muscle etc...
When you are doing whatever it is you love to do, and it does not have to make sense to anybody else, your mind tends to stop making so much noise, drop the fluff, and let you feel what you would really like to focus your time and energy on.
The coolest thing about this type of goal? It is etched on your soul. There is absolutely no chance of you forgetting it, and the inspiration you require to move yourself towards that goal is already within you. Another rather nice byproduct of following your 'felt' goals is you tend to get closer than you ever have to the external goals you were after in the first place.
Start by simply doing more of what you love to do in your everyday life and stop thinking about the rest. Do what is truly dear to your heart and one thing will lead to another.
None of us have time to waste on anything else.
Benjamin works in Movement Coaching and Personal Training at Levity Health. For more information about this article, or to make contact with Ben, email benjaminw@levityhealth.com.au