Mention the word “goals” around a lot of people and they will immediately hide their heads or look the other way! There’s something about the word that feels like pressure. Perhaps it’s because when we were growing up parents and teachers told us the goals they thought we should have, rather than giving us a chance to get in touch with our own desires. In this way, goals become something that others tell us to do, rather than fun and inspiring. Goals were too serious. Goals were only for grown-ups.

If that sounds like you, I want to shift your concept of goals today and show you how valuable they are.

Why set goals? Direction is important. You won’t get anywhere in life if you don’t know where you’re going. When you are driving to a destination that you are unfamiliar with, you enter the address in your GPS first. Unless you know what your final destination is first, the GPS won’t be able to tell you how to get there!

Setting goals is the same way. Once you have a clear end destination in mind, you will be able to find the pathway to get you there. Without that end destination or target, you will follow any whim that takes you, and be at the mercy of being unduly influenced by others. Have you ever felt like “life happens to you” and it’s out of your control? Then you probably haven’t been setting clear goals.

Once you set clear goals for where you are going in your life, your team of spiritual helpers/angels can help you a lot more. Once they know what you want, they can help you find the perfect circumstances to get you there, no matter what the goal might be.

If setting goals feels like pressure to you, and you procrastinate on doing it, you have probably been setting goals the wrong way. Most people in our society are taught to look outside of themselves for what they “should” be doing. If you are waiting for your angels to tell you want you should be doing… you are going to be waiting a long time.

If you have been trained to wait for others to tell you what you should be doing, you are going to get a lot of opinions. Some of this advice can be valuable, but ultimately it’s not going to feel right unless you look within and decide what feels right to you.

Most people have never been taught to look within. Take some time to relax and get into your feelings. What is your heart’s desire? What would you really like to accomplish? What would be fun for you to do/be/have? Brainstorm and explore these ideas. Take your time with it. There’s no rush.

Once you have some ideas that really excite you, form them into goals. These goals should now feel fun and not pressured, because they have come from your authentic desires.

A good approach is to set both spiritual goals and material goals. This way you have balance in your life. Society tends to be very materialistic, and it can be easier to set material goals than spiritual goals. Both are equally important.

Material goals are based on material things in your life. Examples of material goals are buying a new car, improving your home or taking a vacation.

Spiritual goals are based on the spiritual growth you would like to have. Examples of spiritual goals are being more organized, taking time for meditation or being more patient with your children.

It’s fantastic to go for material goals. Life is here to be enjoyed abundantly. Balance that with spiritual goals so that you are continually growing spiritually too. This way you find balance within. You keep the perspective that the material world you are experiencing is just temporary, and you can’t take it with you when you pass on. All you take with you is your spiritual growth and development.

I recommend setting 5 material goals and 5 spiritual goals. Now is a great time to do this for 2015 as the New Year approaches. Once you have your goals, look at them often. If you like, you can make a vision board of your goals so you look at the visual representation of them. As a visionary, I find this inspires me the most. Or you might prefer to write out your goals and read over them every day. A friend of mine who is a Feeler likes to re-write her goals in her journal every night. As she does this, she gets into the feeling of what it will be like to have accomplished the goal.

When you have goals that you are working toward, you have clear direction. You will experience less indecision and confusion. You have already decided what you want, and are learning and growing from the journey of accomplishing them. Once you have achieved those goals, the next goals will appear. This is the richness of life and your spiritual growth.

Please share your thoughts and insights. Make a comment below and let us know!