“And what is it to work with love? …
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit…
~ Kahlil Gibran
This first week of 2021 I have been reflecting on what I want the rest of the year to look and feel like. I want all my strivings and efforts to be work that is love made visible. It is a tall order but what is the beginning of the year for, other than to embrace possibility?
I bought a 2021 goal tracking book in November. It is beautiful…it is full of inspiring quotes and has ribbons to mark pages. I have sat with it on my lap quite a bit since my purchase but I actually haven’t written a single thing in it. I saddled my sister with the matching book and she is feeling the same way; like there is this looming and monumental task ahead that she feels obliged to complete.
Here is what I have set in motion instead. I’ve gone back to my tried and true goal setting/vision for the future stuff with a few added intentions of using the fancy book to stay on track. Look out 2021, I’m taking the reins.
Are you a goal setter? Do you want to be? Do you want to chart your course or tweak how you move through the coming year?
Here’s a process to follow…see if all (or parts) of it resonate for you:
Figure out what your top nine core values are and then rate them from 1-9 with 1-3 being the absolute most important filters (also read the word ‘filters’ as motivators) for all your goal categories. I think it is important to see/understand your landscape of nine core values but work with the top three for goal setting. When there is more than three, I think it’s hard to stay focused. If you want a list of core values to work from try this link.
Goal categories (add or subtract what feels right for you): Financial, Career/Business/School, Relationships, Free-Time, Family-Time, Health and Appearance, Personal Growth, Making a Difference.
Normally, I make a vision board for the year using images I am drawn to and I allow the process to be more intuitive. I like working this way. I am often surprised to see what materializes from my efforts. I also separately set yearly goals. This week, I decided to shake things up for 2021; I am making my vision board a visual representation of my structured goals. I know, I’m a wild woman 😉
So here’s a tangible example…let’s say your top three core values are: Health, Security and Freedom. Use these values to develop your goals under the goal categories. Images you could look for to create your vision board in the Financial Category would be an image for financial health, another for financial security, and one more for financial freedom. In the Career/Business Category it would be career health, career security and career freedom. In the Relationship Category it would be relationship health, relationship security, relationship freedom and so on for each category. Your vision board and yearly goals would look very different if the core values were: Adventure, Fun and Creativity. It would be the same exercise using the same goal categories but the results wouldn’t be anywhere near the same as the first example. You might enjoy adventures and be creative but if your core values are more in-line with health, security and freedom, you would be missing the motivational piece to go after your goals with your whole heart. How else can we make our love visible if our heart isn’t in it?
Use your core values as the spring board to develop your goals to create direction for the year that feels razor sharp and innately satisfying.
Next steps:
- Once you create your vision board, look at it every single day.
- Use a calendar or journal to track small, daily, actionable steps toward the goals that speak directly to your values.
Let me know how the process goes for you. Keep it simple (no fancy journals necessary). And most importantly, just begin.
