Setting Goals vs. Creating a Vision

<p class="">          Every year I get really excited for the new year to come. You know, that feeling where it feels like a blank slate is right in front of you. But then every year I write down a bunch of things I am going to ‘do’ and ‘accomplish the upcoming year and I would drop the ball so to say, all year long. After repeating this pattern year after year, I got tired. I wondered why things weren’t getting done and I got rather frustrated about it. Last year I had had enough and decided to start my year a little bit differently. I had the thought, what if I entered the year with a word, kind of like like a piece of your favorite candy that you hold in your back pocket for a rainy day. That word would help remind me of all my rigid goals and for suuuurrrrre I would get them all done. So at the beginning of 2020, I chose the word trust. To say that word carried me through the year is an understatement. But here’s the thing, this word shifted into something that I didn’t expect. This word turned INTO my vision. When I felt anxious about an outcome, I would remember TRUST. When I didn’t know if my workplace would re-open, TRUST. When I left my partner but had this feeling I would be back with him, TRUST. As the year continued this word became the support system for my overall vision for mySelf. And that’s when I realized a vision was way more important than goals. </p> <p class=""><br />           Now, I’m not saying goals are bad. What I am saying is it depends on where those goals and your overall intention are coming from. We’ve been raised in a culture that values doing and when we do more we are validated so we continue to push and push and push. So when the new year comes around we get excited and think ‘what a great time to set up all my doing for the year ahead’ because if we have all our doing set up, we are worthy. This leaves us chasing and pushing for reasons we don’t know, leaving us feeling burnt out by march and completely depleted by the middle of the year where we drag out those fumes until Dec