Having already talked about letting go of fears, I would now like to take a closer look at the topic “visions and goals”.
Do we need goals? And why are goals so important to us?
These questions I can only answer like this:
Yes, we need goals! Goals are our life drive. Not only do they give us orientation in our lives, but they also give us a direction. Goals help us with our inner growth. They drive us to constantly improve, adapt and work on ourselves. Goals are a great way to achieve what we want. Goals influence our actions. They shape our future – usually they are more powerful and effective than we think! our goals protect us from wasting our lives.
One important thing I would like to say is that goals only have a positive effect on our lives if they are honest and don’t exist only for selfish reasons. It’s not good when we set our goals out of a lack of love (for example: to become famous). Goals should never be a replacement for something, that is to be solved within us…
Many people though have no goals and don’t know what they want, so they miss so many opportunities to create their dream lives. If we know what we want, we can achieve our dreams. Dare to dream the seemingly impossible and strive to achieve it. If I hadn’t dreamed of being self-employed and living in the south, where I would be today?
FIND OUT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT.
“And if I do not know what I want?” Find out! It’s sometimes easier said than done, I know. It includes a good deal of work on yourself, but it’s worth it!
Wether it’s at work, in family, in our friends circle, or in our private life, I’m sure that there’s something, an idea that makes your heart beat faster. Follow this hint, try new things and explore!
Make a list or a mind map and write down everything that comes to your mind. Choose your favorite points. For example, “I want to have my own garden because I want to eat healthier.” Or “I want to go traveling to broaden my horizons.” Or “I want to open a small tea shop because tea is just my passion.” Endurance and enthusiasm and zest for life are signs that we have set our goals right.
Make sure that you don’t set your goals according to the law of least resistance, but according to your heart’s desires. Be aware that sometimes it takes a lot of dedication and patience to achieve your goals.
HOW TO REACH MY GOAL.
When you found out what you want, it’s time to get to work. In my post The Fear of Change and How We Overcome it I compiled a list with some tips on how to approach your goal. Read the post, if you haven’t already done so, it could be very helpful to you.
But today I would like to introduce you to another method, which is very powerful and which I’ve used very successfully several times. I call it The Power Flower.
This is a exercise which i learnt from a therapist in Switzerland: At that time I had just finished my apprenticeship as a graphic designer and was looking for a full-time job. My therapist asked me to draw a big flower on a sheet of paper. In the middle of the flower she told me i should write down the topic that concerns me, in my case: my job. Then I should write down my wishes in every petal: In one Petal was my dream salary, in another my dream team and in the next bloom the location. By then, I had written down all my wishes for my dream job. The flower had do be beautiful and colorful, so I’d like to look at it. The only thing I had to do then, was to look at my flower every day, read through and internalize it – until it came true.
It sounds like a fairytale and at first I wasn’t sure if that would work, but I kept to the rules of the game, looked at my flower every day and internalized every single bloom. To my great astonishment, I found a job that truly fulfilled ALL I had written down, without exception! It seemed perfect, like a miracle!
What I didn’t know back then is that if you take it seriously, this flower excercise takes it very seriously, too. In retrospect, this job wasn’t my dream job, because of the fact that I had to work a lot of overtime, which really effected my body and mind. And it was exactly this point, that I had forgotten to write on the flower!
Just recently, when my sister was looking for a new job, I advised her to draw the flower. At first she also thought that it wouldn’t work, or that she might be too sophisticated with her wishes. On top of that, she also set a time limit for when she wanted to have this new job. And although the limit was realistic, time passed without any indication of a suitable job for her. I advised her to be patient because it would be worthwhile to wait a little longer to get the right job. And suddenly it went so fast that we both could hardly believe it. She had found a new job, which didn’t fulfill all of her wishes though, but it was close enough.
This is the power flower of my sister.
These are just two examples that should demonstrate to you that this flower excercise can be very powerful. Try it out! Of course, it works not only with career goals, but with all goals: job, apartment, partner, whatever comes to your mind.
Be careful how you choose your goals and make sure you have thought of everything. When you look at your power flower, believe that it can and will miraculously happen. As you internalize your flower, your dream destination is on its way – and it will find you.
Here I’ve made a small power flower package to help you get started. You can find various templates which you can fill out, including a completely blank flower for your very own personal topic.
Good luck achieving your goals, and keep me updated.
