A Practice: Patiently Setting Goals toward Purpose

Setting goals helps us identify steps toward our purposes, but sometimes we are so hard on ourselves when we fall short of our goals that we struggle with resetting.   Practice setting goals and patiently approaching setbacks with this set of questions.

1. Do you have a sense of a bigger purpose for your life?  It might be coming alongside others to help them develop regular spiritual practices, or it might be that you want to become a nurse or psychologist. Perhaps right now your purpose is raising your children to be contributing adults.  Whatever your bigger purposes, try to identify where your gifts, talents and passions meet the needs of the world.
2. Identify 1-2 tangible goals you need to achieve that move you toward your purposes.  These could be things like getting up 30 minutes earlier to read scripture and pray, or it might be that you need to start writing essays for applications.  Whatever the goal, write it down on a sheet of paper and describe it in a couple of sentences. 
3. Why is this goal important to you? Explain with a couple of sentences. 
4. In an ideal world, when would you like to see this goal achieved?
5. Imagine yourself on the journey to this goal, doing your best to implement your strategies. Then, you experience a setback that affects your desired timeline. Envision what your reaction might be (discouragement, frustration, shame, disappointment, anger, defeat). Think about what your body would feel as you experience this response (tense, heavy, a pit in your stomach, headache).
6. Now, imagine applying a patient response to this setback. How would you like to see yourself respond (with love, self-acceptance, acknowledgement, perseverance, gratitude)? (Perhaps considering how you would counsel someone else to respond to a setback could give you insight here.) 
7. Envision yourself responding in your ideal way. What do you feel in your body as you initiate this response (peace, relaxation, lightheartedness)?
8. Fully embrace this moment, allowing yourself to reflect back on it the next time you have an opportunity to extend patience to yourself and your situation.

Click here for a PDF of this practice.