New Year Revolution

New Year Revolution

Goal setting yoga-style.

What do you want? No, really. What do you really, truly, deeply, honestly want more than anything in the world? When I was about 14, I bought a record by Joe Jackson and one of the lyrics went “You can’t get what you want…. Till you know what you want”. There may be lots of things that you want, but what matters most? If you want to make some changes in your life, it’s time for some careful self-enquiry (Swadhyaya).

Goal setting is a very effective way of moving towards positive changes. If you’ve failed to reach goals in the past, it’s probably down to one of two things. 1. Lack of planning or 2. Setting the wrong goals. If you don’t plan out how you’re going to reach your goals, then it’s easy to get lost along the way. However, if you don’t set the right goals, it doesn’t matter how diligently you work towards them, things will never turn out quite how you’d hoped.

So, what is the ‘right’ goal? The goals worth reaching for and the ones that will make you truly happy are the ones that are in line with your deepest, most heartfelt values and desires. It’s time to go inwards and ask yourself what really matters most to you. When you understand your core values and desires you can start to set goals that are in line with your deepest needs. Those are the goals that, with some careful planning and focus, will bring you the greatest reward.

Here’s a simple 4 step plan to help you identify and work towards your goals in 2009:

1. ENQUIRY – You’ve got to know what you want before you can set goals and sometimes, you have to dig a bit deeper to find out what that really is. Meditation is very helpful here. Rather than just thinking about what goals to set, meditation allows you to access the space between your thoughts where your true feelings, inspiration and wisdom come from. Meditation helps you to work out what matters most so you can set goals that are in line with your true values and desires.

2. PLAN – This is where you get it out of your head and on to paper. Firstly, set your goals according to the deepest values and needs that you discovered through meditation. Write them down so that they are clear, concrete and unambiguous, then set a timeframe for each of them. Now, what do you have to do in order to be, have, do and experience the goals you have written down? For each of your goals, write down what it would take to make them happen.

3. ACT – You know what your goals are and what it will take to reach them. Now you’re ready to take action and start living your life in a way that is in harmony with the deepest values and desires that you identified in Step 1. For each of your goals, write down three things that you can do this week to achieve the things you wrote down in Step 2. You can use asana to help you with this. When you feel stuck or unsure how to act, get up and move your body. The flow of energy will help bring clarity and momentum to your plans.

4. START AGAIN! To stay on track, keep tapping in to your innate wisdom through meditation, redefining your goals according to what matters most. Use your asana practise to help you move forward by conjouring the energy, awareness and effort required to reach those goals.

Yoga teaches us about the concept of Bhavana. It’s kind of like yogic goal setting in and is a tool to help us develop, realise or manifest something positive. We can also use Sankalpa (Intention) to give us focus. When you’ve worked out your deepest needs and values, create a short, positive phrase that encapsulates what you’re working towards. This needn’t be a concrete ‘goal’. An intention is a more universal concept, a feeling or direction that underpins every goal, action and choice you make. An example might be “I experience joy and success in everything I do” or “My relationships are filled with happiness and compassion”. Use your Sankalpa in your meditation, as a daily affirmation or during Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of your asana practise.

One very important difference with goal setting yoga-style is your attitude towards the outcome. Yoga asks us to surrender, let go and live in the present moment. Even though we set goals that help us to move in a certain direction, we need to learn to let go of our attachment to the outcome. Sometimes, when things don’t go exactly to plan, they have a strange way of turning out for the better. Go with the flow!

Make 2009 the year that you use these simple yoga practises to help you set and work towards the goals that will take you where your heart truly desires to go (and that may not always be where your conscious mind thinks it should be!)

www.adoreyoga.com

Copyright Nikola Ellis 2009