Volume 1, Issue 2 - February 2004
In This Issue Feature Article: No Ordinary Goals Exercise: Meet Yourself...Twenty Years from Today From the Editor: Go with the "Flow" Complimentary Coaching Session: Learn More Coming Next Month: Get into action!	Sign up to receive this newsletter via email! Privacy Guarantee: Your information will never be given, rented or sold to a third party. Your privacy will be respected with utmost regard.

No ordinary goals

Goals without teeth really fall into the dreams and wishes category .   There is nothing wrong with dreams and wishes but when we truly desire to achieve, we need to take it a couple of steps further.   The simple act of committing our goals to paper for this year or the next five years, will improve the likelihood for success.   And, make your goals S.M.A.R.T.  

"S" - Specific.   Make your goals as specific as possible. Do you want a more stimulating job?   What will you be doing?   Who will you be working with?   What is the culture of the organization?

"M" - Measurable. A goal must be measurable so that you can actually accomplish it. You want to make more money this year, how much?   Will you measure your financial goals by your income or your net worth or both?  

"A" - Accountability.   Hold yourself accountable for your progress.     Use positive incentives to reward your progress - lose 10 lbs. - take yourself to a spa.   Coaching is great for rigorous accountability by the way.  

"R" - Relevant.   The absolute key to attaining your goals is to make them relevant to what is truly important to you, to have them align with your "compelling vision" for your life.   More about this below.  

"T" - Timeframe.   When will you achieve this goal?   Without a date, we are back to wishes and dreams.  

Relevant and compelling is key.   Our goals must be aligned and fueled by a compelling vision, a mission statement that taps into our passions, lights up our spirit, and calls us forth into courageous action, where we overcome obstacles as necessary.   Our compelling vision is the why and for the sake of what behind our dreams, our wishes, and our goals.   When you achieve this goal, what do you get?  

What is your compelling vision for your life?   What dream is so big, so juicy and exciting that you even hesitate to give a voice to it?   What longs to be created by you?   Go there!   Write it down, play with it, bring the details to life and start to craft a compelling vision for your life. How big can you be ...?

To get started, check out the future self and life purpose exercises below.


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Exercise

Meet Yourself -   Twenty Years from Today   There are no right answers in this exercise, only your answers. Be honest, spontaneous, and don't think too much about it. Find a quiet place and time to be alone with your thoughts.   Read through the following questions and write down whatever comes to mind. Feel free to close your eyes and visualize the answers to each questions before writing.   I magine yourself twenty years in the future.   See yourself in the place where you will be living in the year 2024.  

1. Where do you live? What does the dwelling look like, feel like?   What is the environment like there? Trees? Flowers? Concrete?
2. What does your future self look like? What style and color of clothes is he/she wearing? Other physical traits? What is the essence of this person?
3. What are the most important things you have accomplished in the last twenty years?   Ask your future self what he/she remembers most. Ask what you need to be most in tune with to get you from where you are now to where your future self is twenty years from now.
4. Who are the most important people in your future self's life? How are these people different from your current friends and family?
5. Create an image or an outfit that embodies the essence of your future self. Use this as a tool to connect with the feelings or being of your future self.

 The previous exercises were based on material from Co-Active Space 2001.

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From the Editor

Go with the "Flow"

I did the future-self visualization in the fall of 2002 when I was doing my training through the Coaches Training Institute. During the visualization I was asked what my future self was called, her essence. Immediately the word "Flow" came to mind. While debriefing the exercise with a coach, I had an opportunity to expand on what this meant to me. I got that my future self has the ability to go with the flow given any circumstance. She is a feminine warrior-athlete like Flo-Jo no matter her age or background. Then there is being "in the flow", a trusting and knowing that I'm divinely made and living my purpose.

I access my future self sometimes when I am stuck, even in seemingly simple things, like cleaning the clutter from my home. I simply ask "Would Flow hang on to this, give it away to someone who will use it, or just throw it away?" The decisions come fast and easy and I accomplish so much!! It is also helpful to access Flow in difficult times, like when I start worrying about my pregnancy and it allows me to let go of the worry. I recognize that my future self is really an energy that I always have access to, not a predictor of who I will become. So I use this tool to take me beyond my immediate circumstance, get into motion and be more at peace.