Goals etc...

It's hard to feel like you're capable of getting anywhere when you keep getting blindsided by stupid colds. I take all the necessary precautions, why do I feel like the only teacher who keeps getting sick??? Why can't I just suck it up like others and function with a cold...??? Bleh...

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of reading about goals lately - well actually I've not been seeking out things to read, they've been dropped in my lap, or my inbox, as the case may be... Monday, was not only Chinese New Year, but it was also the New Moon, and there was a partial solar eclipse and some planetary influences that made it a powerful day for sending your intentions to the Universe/God/Goddess. So everybody seemed to be talking about it...

Christopher Witecki from SoulGarden.tv talked about lightcasting your request to the universe (when meditating you listen for messages, when lightcasting you speak), and Gala Darling picked up on that and said, "...you can do it anywhere, whatever the occasion. You don’t have to sit down cross-legged with a flower in your mouth, trying to balance a crystal on your head while visualising spinning each chakra simultaneously. There are no rules, just do what feels good to you. You can visualise while you’re spinning a hula hoop around your body, while you’re doing the gardening, while you’re walking to work. All you really need to do is make some time to focus on what you want, while at the same time experiencing the feelings you’ll have when you get what you want, like exquisite joy, bliss, happiness, etc. The more you think about what it is you want, the more these feelings should build up inside you, so that you feel like you might burst. Allow yourself to let these feelings wash over you in an awesome wave."

Then Aby Garvey of Simplify 101 sent an article on Goal Setting with five way to remove the fear and mystery around setting goals. The very first one was so important for me to hear; it was Tuesday, and I felt like I had lost my chance to take advantage of the powerful forces moving in the universe, yadayadayada, and would just have to wait... But here's what Aby said:

Now is the Right Time
You don’t have to start a diet on a Monday, and you don’t have to set goals on January 1st. Today is the perfect day to get started with goals. Yep, you can start on a Tuesday at the end of January—even if you’ve never in your life written down a goal before now! (I’ll tell you how to get started in just a minute.)

The truth is, there is never a perfect time to create change in your life…there’s always going to be something else vying for your attention. But setting goals is especially empowering when you are facing a life transition such as job change, or you’re heading toward a big birthday, or you’re feeling somewhat stuck or uninspired. Goals will energize and inspire you, putting you back in the driver’s seat of your life.

That's right, it doesn't even matter that it's now WEDNESDAY and even another day later than the day of the New Moon, and a Monday, and everything else...

She goes on with these four bits of advice:

It Starts with Exploring What You Want which is not always easy! I fell into office work and then was lucky enough to be able to quit and explore several options before deciding to be a teacher. I've gone through school, and am now teaching, and am finding that even that is not what I wanted to do. So again, I am questioning what it is that I really want out of life...
You Deserve What You Want! and she summed it up most eloquently in this statement, "When you are living your life on purpose and spending your time on things you love, you are enriching the lives of others through your joy and happiness."
Failure Is Not an Option because each mistake you make along the way is a lesson, an opportunity to learn and grow. You only fail when you give up trying.
Action Makes It Happen and here she says to pick you goal, then find one thing to move you toward that goal and do it. Rinse. Repeat. And continue to do so until you reach that goal!

Which brings me BACK to Gala Darling! She is going to have the second annual iCiNG Transformation Challenge starting February 1st, which is an opportunity to achieve a goal that you have been trying to reach, but haven't as of yet. Last year, Gala exercised daily and ate 100% raw; others quit smoking, created more art, changed their diets, worked on their relationships... all kinds of transformations!

Anyway, she is going to be posting all kinds of inspiration on a daily basis (which you can get right in your email by subscribing) and suggested reading this article called "13 Wondrous Ways to Wahoo Your Way into 2009!" to help you plan for whatever changes you want to make. I'm not sure what goals I'll be making yet, but I will definitely be following along and posting here about how it's going. Feel free to join in if you want, or just follow along here! ^-^