How to set Inspired Goals in 2011

As we move into January many of us start making resolutions for the New Year ahead, but only a very small percentage of them are ever kept.  This is because resolutions are often made based on things we think we should do, rather than from our heartfelt desires.  Resolutions tend to be fuelled with negative energy.  We load them up with guilt, disappointment and fear, then use them to beat ourselves up about all the things we feel we’ve failed at or should have done better with.  Approaching the start of a new year in this way feels depressing and draining - a recipe guaranteed to cook up more of the same!  No wonder people find themselves year after year setting identical resolutions to the ones they failed to keep several years in succession.

“Every man should be born again on the first day of January.  Start with a fresh page.  Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.” Henry Ward Beecher

Ditch your resolutions and try something new this year.   Start 2011 by digging deep and unlocking your true desires for what you’d really like to be, do and have during the year ahead.

How to Set Inspired Goals – 7 Simple Steps

1. Let go of struggle - Relax.  Accept what is.Breathe.  Give yourself permission to release disappointments, frustrations and any expectations you may have been trying to live up to that don’t belong to you.  In doing this you will sense an energetic shift and feel lighter, brighter and more easily able to access your authentic dreams for the year ahead.

2. Make a gratitude list of all that you feel grateful for in your life as it is, right now.    This will open your awareness up to what you really want to experience in 2011

3. Turn your focus within and ask yourself “what would I like to experience more of this year?”  Make a note of what comes up.  You don’t need to know how you’re going to make these things happen – let go and trust that the how will show up by itself.  Keep going deeper by asking “what more would I like to experience”, until you reach your true longings and desires for the future. Capture those desires in whatever way inspires you – you might want to write them down, create an image or even make a vision board.  Whatever you desire you can create in the world.

“If you can dream it you can do it”  Walt Disney

4. Choose a word for the year ahead that represents the essence of what you want to be, do and have.  One word.  Write it down.  Contemplate for a moment what would be different for you if you were to carry this word with you daily and truly embraced it in all that you do, with everyone you meet. 

5. Find five ways you can support yourself in living this word (e.g. writing this word in prominent places so that you see it and remember it every day, asking a friend to remind you of this word when you are having a wobbly day…).

“You are the power in your world! You get to have whatever you chose to think!”  Louise Hay

6. Visualize yourself one year from now, having embraced, embodied and lived this word every day – how is your life different?  What has changed?  What new things have you created or attracted?  How do you feel?

7. List 5 goals for the coming year, based on the word you have chosen.  State them using positive language and in the present tense, as if you already have them (e.g. I am calm and healthy – NOT I want to be less stressed and lose weight). 

“Seize this very minute; whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it.  For boldness has magic, power and genius in it.  Begin it now.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

These goals are your inspired goals for 2011. They represent clear intentions for 2011 aligned with what you really want.   Take inspired action towards them and you will begin to attract opportunities matching your desires.  Where your attention goes, your energy flows and results will show.  Start experiencing the true power of your inspired goals today!