This is the time of the year when we sit down with our pad of paper and pen and create our “New Year’s” resolutions. Our plan for self-improvement for the next year. We create specific goals and timelines to measure our progress.
And, it is the time when we take some time to look back and see what we have accomplished; the progress we have made on our goals and intentions. We congratulate ourselves for meeting our targets and perhaps chastise ourselves for where we feel we fell short.
You know the drill. How many times have you gone through this process? Does it work for you? A recent article said that after the first week 75% of the people who made resolutions practiced them and after six months more than half the people did not remember their resolutions.
Why do we create resolutions/goals? What are we wanting to achieve. I think we set targets/goals to help us move forward in our lives, to make our lives better in some way, whether it is financially, physically, socially or spiritually. We set goals because we want something different than what we have, something better.
Generally with goals we set a “deadline” or a “drop dead date” to encourage performance. What would it look like if we created a “Life Line” to support ourselves instead? What if there were a totally different way of bringing positive change into our lives? An easier way than measuring, counting, performing. A more relaxed and less stressful approach.
Joshua Fields Milburn of The Minimalists, has found something that works for him and describes it in his blog entitled “100 Days with No Goals” posted at http://zenhabits.net/100-days/.
I found his article fascinating. Joshua learned some very interesting things about himself and the benefit for him of living in the present and responding to what was inviting him at the moment. Joshua shares that he now lives from choices rather than goals and that freedom has created a life for him where he is less stressed, more productive and happier and more content.
I encourage you to explore living without goals for a week and see what happens. I’d love to hear your experiences. Please share them in response to this article on my blog.
