Baby goats — goals! *
So, you’ve decided to change your life. Good. Congratulations.
Now, what are you going to change first? Woops, caught you there, right? This is the very next trick our safety mechanisms pull on us – stalling us again. Suddenly, our decision to change our life seems hopeless. There is so much to change you have no idea where to begin.
There is something I read in a book once, and it still makes me chuckle. I forgot the author’s name, but her advice was to do the dishes and then clean the kitchen sink. It is clever and good advice, because it gets you into action. And once you’re doing something, it’s much easier to keep doing something.
An even better plan is to start working on a road map. It’s very hard to get from New York to San Diego if you have no map and no idea how to get there. It’s even worse if you just know you want to get away from New York, but have no idea where you want to go. No goal.
There. I said it. The nasty “g” word. But it’s true. You need a goal. And most people would tell you that it has to be a shiny, huge, electrifying goal that’ll make you so excited you can’t stop yourself from pursuing it. I won’t. That kind of goal is simply too big. You need baby goals to practice on.
I want to help you find a baby goal that’s doable, realistic and that you can reach in a certain time frame. And it should be small enough so you don’t feel overwhelmed by aiming at it. So, let’s start on something really simple. It’ll have to be your decision, but I’m going to give you some hints:
Clear the kitchen before you go to bed every … Sunday. Or any other day of the week. And do that for a month, for now. Does that sound doable? Or something like shutting down the computer at 9pm once a week, for a whole month. That’s four times, okay? You can do that.
It doesn’t really matter what you set as goal. What matters is that you actually do it for a whole month. Keep track of it. And when you have done this, celebrate! Because you are practicing something you will need for the rest of your life: Setting goals and reaching them.
It’s something that should be taught in school. It’s something everyone should know. But now you do. And now you can go out and swing into action. What’s your baby goal? Please tell me in the comments.
Still blocked? Okay. Here’s a tapping round for you:
KP: Even though I have no idea how to set a goal and actually go through with it, I’m okay the way I am and open to the possibility that it’s much easier than I thought.
Even though I’ve never set a goal, let alone reached it, I’m okay the way I am and open to the possibility that I can learn how to do, even at my age.
Even though I’m scared of setting even a baby goal, I’m okay the way I am and I’m open to the possibility that I can do it and get used to it in baby steps.
IE: Waaaah! I don’t like goals.
OE: They are nasty and tricky.
UE: They make me feel bad …
UN: I’ve tried setting a goal so often
CP: and I’ve failed so often.
CB: I gave up on goals because not reaching them really hurt me.
UA: I hate the mere idea of goals.
AW: Goals are evil and make me unhappy!
Take a deep breath!
IE: But maybe I just made mistakes with my goal setting?
OE: Maybe I set unreasonable goals.
UE: Maybe I demanded too much of myself.
UN: Maybe I was still a kid.
CP: But failing really hurt me.
CB: I’m afraid of failing again.
UA: I don’t want to risk that.
AW: I made a vow to never set goals again.
Take a deep breath!
IE: But maybe I can give it one more try.
OE: And maybe I can choose goals that are really easy.
UE: And maybe I can be gentle with myself if I fail even that.
UN: I never learned how to use goals well.
CP: I was set up for failure … nobody taught me how to do this!
CB: Maybe that crazy EFT woman is right.
UA: Maybe I can find a baby goal that would be fun to do.
AW: Hey, I can choose a teeny tiny baby goal.
Take a deep breath!
IE: I can practice with a teeny tiny baby goal.
OE: It could be something easy and fun.
UE: And doable.
UN: And I allow myself to choose a fun baby goal right now.
CP: Just for the heck of it!
CB: After all, I do want to change my life.
UA: And this way, it could actually be fun.
AW: I’m choosing a fun baby goal right now, and that feels good.
Take a deep breath!
I’d love to hear about your personal baby goal. And there is no goal that is too small. It really is all about you experiencing how it feels to actually reach a goal. So please tell me about it. I want to celebrate with you!
* Image courtesy of Pinoydiscus, Wikimedia