The Importance Of Setting Yourself Goals
I never used to be someone who set herself goals. I've always had lots of goals, but they were just sort of out there, floating about in my brain. Every once in a while, I'd remember one, and focus in on it. Taking Atlas to print was a big goal, so I focused a lot on that for a long time. Obviously that worked, but as time went on, some of my other goals got a bit lost by the way side.
You may remember that a few months ago I read a book called "How To Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be" by Jack Canfield. I read this thing in a matter of days, and I loved it. It was easy to read, interesting, not too hippie, and not preachy at all. It was just the right balance for me. One big thing that came out of reading that book was how important it actually was to figure out what I really wanted from my life.
A good analogy that made sense to me was this: people always say they would love to be a millionaire. Sure, lots of money sounds great, doesn't it?! You could buy what you want, never have to worry about bills, travel the world, and live pretty comfortably. But then it was put into perspective... do you actually need to be a millionaire to be able to live the life you want? Have you ACTUALLY ever taken the time to think about what it is that you want? I hadn't, not seriously.
I sat down at our kitchen table a few days later with a blank notebook, and I scribbled away to my hearts content, jotting down anything and everything that came to mind. Part of what Jack Canfield wrote was that any dreams you have, you should write them down. No dream is too ridiculous. Nothing is silly. If it's what you want, write it down!
Strange things began to happen though. I began writing less about material things, and more about how I wanted to FEEL. Quite quickly you realise that perhaps the goals you have in life aren't so much for things, but for feelings. It certainly was for me. I have lots of big dreams. I have a huge list of goals that I want to achieve in life, and I'm sure that as the years go on, I'll continue to have even more. And whenever something comes to mind that I think I'd quite like to achieve, I write it down.
But what even is the point of writing them down? Now, I'm not going to start talking about visualisation and affirmations and all that, because honestly it's not something I know enough about to discuss it, but what I found was that the moment they were written down, they felt more real. It was like I'd made myself a to do list for my life. I don't necessarily feel pressure that if I don't achieve these things I'm a failure, but it's more that I now have the ability to go through, read what my goals and dreams are, and really think about how I could go about achieving these things. I've noticed a change in myself already! It's felt so incredibly positive, and things have started to change and mould their way into the way I'd quite like them to. It's an incredible thing.
So if you haven't ever taken time out to write down what your goals for your life are, I highly recommend it. Not only is it great to get those feelings down on paper, it's a great way to let your imagination go wild, with no judgement at all!
