I used to think that goals were 'the goal'.
I used to think that achievement was the victory.
I know better now.
Brooke Castillo says it best:
"Pursuing a goal that has you both excited and scared, brings to
the surface thought patterns that require excavation."
Pursuing something that will undoubtedly stretch and challenge us is a surefire way to be confronted, intensely, by the old thought patterns in our lives that do not serve our highest self.
The ways of thinking that keep us:
paralyzed
doubtful
stressed
insecure
afraid
unable
.... feeling like life is always happening to us instead of for us.
I get what she's talking about now. For so long my goals felt forever out of reach. I had a list a mile long of why I 'couldn't' or 'wouldn't' or 'really 'shouldn't'. Now, I see those excuses for what they are: limited thinking that required excavation.
At this point, I've become a devoted excavator ;) First, I pursue my goals from a place of worthiness. I don't need to achieve them, I want to. Second, I recognize and expect that as I go about making those goals a reality, those icky old feelings will rise to the surface.
But now, instead of allowing those indulgent emotions to derail me, I call them out for what they are. I call them out as old patterns of thinking that I don't want to think anymore. I remind myself that I am pursuing something important and exciting and that that very act will always drudge up the gremlins of old, negative thought patterns.
So, now when I'm hard at work and they pop up, I shine a spotlight right on them.
'Hi Stress!, Hi Worry!....I see you.'
I thank them for stopping by.
I tell them I may need them if I encounter a bear ;)
But right now, there is no bear. So I tell them to take a hike.
Then, I take a minute to pat myself on the back for pursuing something that really matters to me.
I pat myself on the back for bravely trying and for knowing the growth and the reward is in the journey: the moment I find myself in right now.
It is in this very act that two incredible things are happening:
1. I am actually making progress on my goals. Oh happy day!
2. The journey of the goals themselves have become the fertile ground from which I am cultivating my best self. So yes, achieving goals feels great. But the journey, if we choose to dig in and get real with ourselves on it, is where all of the magic really happens.
So, dig into your goals this week friend. And when those icky gremlins pop up, shine a light on them and call them out for what they really are: old limiting beliefs.
You are becoming someone who won't be derailed by these indulgent emotions any longer. You are becoming mindful and as a result, the magic of the journey and the goals themselves are well within your reach. ♥︎