Do you need to Reassess your Goals?

We are officially half way through the year, who’s ready to check in on their New Year’s Goals?

*crickets*

If it stresses you out to even think about your goals right now, just know that you’re not alone. I haven’t even pulled out my goal planner since March, and I’m not torn up about it. In fact, I think it’s the best thing that could’ve happened.

The slowdown that has occurred in the past few months had been life-changing to say the least.

As you’ve probably read about ten thousand times on social media, “what is the ‘normal’ that we want to go back to?”

At first, the break from my usual activities and obligations was nice, and I decided that a few of those obligations had outlived their welcome and was happy to have this opportunity to step away. But as the weeks go on, it’s forcing me to take an even closer look every aspect of my life and decide if they align with my ultimate vision.

Is it time to Reassess?

I’ve taken a big step back and taken a good look at the things in my life that I had been prioritizing. I realized that the goals I had set in January were not really aligned with what I really wanted, they were set in regards to what I thought I should want, or what I felt like I should work towards.

I realized that a lot of my goals were more about my Ego’s need for validation, and less about what was truly important to me. After much consideration and self-reflection, I realized that what I really want is much simpler.

I challenge you to check your goals and find out if you have also been setting goals to satisfy your Ego, or if your goals are truly aligned with what you want deep down.

Put your Goals to the Ego Challenge. Do they pass?

To see if you have been working towards goals that are truly aligned with what you want or if you are simply feeding your Ego, do this simple test.

Divide your page down the center and write your goals down the left hand column. Then starting at the top, read each goal and ask yourself why it’s a priority to you. The answers may surprise you.

If you come up with answers like:

“Because it’s my souls calling”

“It really lights me up”

“For the love of it”

Or “To be a better person” Then you’re probably on the right track.

But if you come up with answers like:

“Because it’s impressive”

“It looks good on my resume”

“I’ve been told it’s a smart move”

Or worst of all “I feel obligated to do this / want this” Then this is definitely your Ego talking.

Your Ego craves competition, separateness and duality. It’s agenda is usually based out of fear, lack, and scarcity. That’s not to say that these kinds of goals are bad, but it’s helpful to realized that these kinds of goals may not be as fulfilling as goals that come from the heart.

I’ll give you a personal example. One of my goals for this year was to have a certain number of Program Launches throughout the year. Another one of my goals was to start a morning Meditation practice.

Both of these could be aligned with what I truly want, but after examination, I realized that the goal about Program Launches was a goal that I set because I felt like it was a smart business move. In reality, holding myself to such strict scheduling was quite stressful and overwhelming.

I realized that I had set this goal because I thought I should be doing regular Program launches. And in reality, it probably is a good business move, but not if it doesn’t feel good to me.

Whereas the goal to create a morning Meditation practice comes from the desire to be in a continual state of growth, constantly learning and becoming more in-tune and aligned.

And when I’m honest about what is more important to me, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that a morning Meditation practice is more important to me than a scheduled program launch. But if it’s different for you, that’s okay!

You may decide that making more money and growing your business or side hustle is the most important thing to you and that doesn’t mean you’re acting from a place of Ego, it means that that’s what lights you up.

This is not a time to judge, just a time to reflect.

If you do this activity and find that a majority of your goals were based out of satisfying your Ego, don’t feel bad –I’m with you! You don’t need to judge yourself or become critical, it’s an opportunity to make changes if changes need to be made.

Personally, my goals have shifted in a big way. I’ve decided to put aside a lot of the goals that didn’t feel aligned with what is truly important to me and step more fully into the goals that feel aligned and deeply fulfilling.

In other words, I’ve started that morning meditation practice ;)

How about you, what kind of self-reflection or changes have you made because of the COVID slowdown?

Xx