February exercise week 3: Post three goals on a magic wall
When I was starting high school, I had an idea to write down off the top of my head what I wanted to accomplish in high school — you might say it was my first “to do” list. I put the piece of paper in a book and put the book in a drawer and forgot all about it. Several years later as I was preparing to go to college, I cleaned out that drawer and found the list I’d forgotten I’d written. To my astonishment, I had accomplished every single one of those “to do’s”!
I’d become a dancer in the musicals (I’d had no previous dance training to speak of and my HS was very arts focused, so competition was fierce — I learned to do aerials, for Pete’s sake!), sung in choir and chamber choir, marched in color guard, performed good roles in plays, become an accomplished horseback rider, traveled to Europe … the list went on and on, all accomplished!
Seeing this actually scared me a little. What power this little piece of paper had! I’d made no formal plan to accomplish any of these dreams — I’d simply written them down, held them in my heart and given myself the chance. When auditions and tryouts came up, I signed up. When I earned some money, I set some aside toward a trip. It all magically fell into place.
I’ve demonstrated the power of written goals over and over again in my life — not all of the dreams have come true, but a good many have. Write down three heartfelt goals you have — goals that would bring you joy. I think the joy factor is important. (Note that my HS list was about fun goals rather than grades — and, honestly, accomplishing those joyful experience type goals meant more to me than getting into college. But if stuff like good grades bring you real joy, by all means go for it.) Ask yourself am I okay with having this goal? It doesn’t matter if you don’t know “how” it’s going to happen. If resistance comes up (thoughts like “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t know enough,” “this is impossible”), just accept whatever thoughts and feelings are coming up, and let them go. Put the piece of paper on a wall you pass regularly, maybe on the refrigerator or next to your computer. If you like, you can let your heart know you’re serious by glancing at them and giving these joys an inner nod every now and then. Then give yourself the chance — follow up on opportunities that come your way that lead where you’re heart’s already going.
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