Goal setting daily, monthly, quarterly, annually, or every 5 or 10 years can help us live purposeful, rich, and juicy lives. Beginning with feelings first can help us set goals that are meaningful to us. Not run of the mill, one-size-fits all goals, but ones that rock our worlds because they’re made just for us.
A brilliant Canadian author and entrepreneurial coach, Danielle Laporte suggests in her book, The Fire Starter Sessions, that “knowing how you actually want to feel is the most potent form of clarity you can have…Then do stuff that makes you feel that way.”
Read her quote again. It’s brilliant! If you think about it, every goal we want to achieve is because we want to feel a certain way. Why not get clear on what those feelings are first? Then the path will become oh so much clearer!
Thinking about how we want to feel and remembering that each and every day can help us be intentional about what we actually do each day.
For example, my words are: connected, beautiful, inspired, energized, and meaningful.
When I say ‘beautiful,’ I don’t mean like a beautiful model. I mean doing things that create beauty in other people’s lives, appreciating all the beauty there is on this planet, in my life, and other people’s. When I look at the picture above of me, I feel beautiful because I was tickled pink that day! My son and I had a blast driving dune buggies like Mario Andretti, laughing and loving every twist and turn together! It was a really beautiful moment tucked in my memory bank.
I felt beauty was everywhere the day I brought my son home from the hospital. It was a frickin’ cold day, -45 degrees Celsius. The sky was a dazzling blue, the snow sparkled in the sunshine, I had the most amazing little boy in my arms who now was a part of my life. Everything in my life looked so flippin’ beautiful I cried tears of loving joy. That’s what I mean when I say I want to feel beautiful.
Think about 3-5 feelings you want to feel. Think about what kinds of things you can do to experience those feelings. Identifying those feelings can help you get clear on the goals that are going to be important to you.
“And will you succeed? 98 and three-quarter percent guaranteed!”
~Dr. Seuss