The Ability to Achieve Your Wishes Comes from Within
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. – Goethe
If it is to be, it is up to me. - Author Unknown
Are you working to achieve your wishes or goals for 2010 or have you gradually begun to let other responsibilities get in the way? Achieving your goals or wishes is up to you – no one can do it for you. Why and how you decide to achieve your goals can mean the difference between victory and failure. The desire to achieve your goals must come from within and match your personal values. This is key to helping you stay motivated.
If you’re finding it challenging to take the steps or make the changes necessary to reach your goals, re-evaluate them and question why you want to achieve them. Did you decide to achieve these particular goals for yourself or for someone else? Are they consistent with your values? Will working to reach these wishes bring you self-fulfillment and joy as you strive to improve who you are or will they make you engage in self-criticism? As you take a closer look at your goals and why you want to achieve them make sure that the road leading to each one will be a positive journey.
For instance, here are two different ways to look at a similar goal. The first individual wants to lose weight because she feels she doesn’t look good at her current weight. She has been finding it difficult to stick to her “new diet” and therefore, constantly feels guilty and angry at herself. Why is she having trouble with her goal? First, she has decided to make weight lose her goal. Weight loss is not a goal. Weight loss is the result of making healthy lifestyle changes. Second, she put herself on a “diet” rather than making gradual lifestyle changes. Therefore, she feels deprived. Her goal to lose weight has become a source of negative energy and has led to self-criticism and feelings of guilt.
The second individual would also like to lose weight because he knows that reaching a healthy weight will increase his health. However, he doesn’t have a “magic” weight that he would like to reach. Instead, he has a weight range that he knows is appropriate for him after talking with his doctor and a registered dietitian. Additionally, and most most importantly, his goal is not to lose weight. His goals are centered around lifestyle changes such as eating until he is comfortably full one meal each day, walking 30 minutes 4 times each week, weight lifting 3 times weekly, eating one fresh fruit daily, and 1 cup of vegetables each day. These are just a few of the goals he has set for himself. Each lifestyle change that he makes and maintains for more than a week makes him feel proud which motivates him to work to achieve his next wish on his list. This individual is learning to take care of his health and hence, himself.
To achieve your goals make sure that you are pursuing them for the right reasons and that the experience of reaching them will be one of personal growth and self-care.
