Changing Goals this Chooseday

“For the second half of life to be better than the first, you must make the choice to step outside of the safety of living on autopilot.
You must wrestle with who you are, why you believe what you profess to believe about your life, and what you do to provide meaning and structure to your daily activities and relationships.”

Bob Buford, Author of Half-Time, Changing your Game Plan from Success to Significance

What drives us now is not the same as what drove us 10 years ago.

In the same way as we change our hairstyle, our clothing, our body shape, we need to adjust our goals. It’s too easy to go through life without thinking. It’s more fun (and more challenging) to think about what you really, really want.

I was fortunate enough to attend an event in Perth where the Dalai Lama was speaking. He began by emphasising that we have all been born with the same ability to be happy. He stressed that he is a human being just like us. That we have choices in life and we can decide what we want to do. He implied that we all want to be happy, that is the one common desire for all humans.

I tend to agree. However, everyone has a different understanding about what it takes to be happy.

It’s important to look at what really makes you happy. Some might think that getting a new car or a bigger house or a new relationship will make them happy – but that happiness doesn’t last very long. I prefer to look at what makes your soul happy. I’ve been listening to Oprah Winfrey talk about “What I know for Sure” and she talks about the highlights of her life as the special moments with friends, the joy of a good book that you can lose yourself in at the end of the day, the ‘little things’ that bring us joy on a daily basis.

Happiness is a decision.

Where does this relate to goals? The purpose of setting goals is not just to achieve them, but to grow as a person, in the process of achieving our goals. Think of some of the best times in your life, and I’ll bet that they were when you were using your skills and talents, when you were ‘in flow’ and probably had a goal that you were working towards.

Humans are for greater expansion and fuller expression. It’s our nature to want to grow as an individual, to become more of who we were designed to be. Not to change into who we think someone else expects us to be, but to become an even better version of ourselves.

Before we go further, goals do not have to only be about achieving, doing, faster, stronger, higher, quicker. Many goals are reached by slowing down a tad, and being strategic about our actions. Who do we need to connect to? (Hint, connect to your soul first, to hear what is really going on!)

 

There is a shift we experience as we go through life. Wayne Dyer talks about this as the Shift from Ambition to Meaning, Success to Significance.Bob Buford talks about it as Success to Significance.

What are your goals for the next phase of your life?
Who do you want to become in the process of reaching for your goals?
Do you want to be a human DOing or do you want to be a human BEing?

Have a great week,

With love and gratitude
Jill