My yearly evaluation is complete, and I have a strong handle on my goals, desires and intentions for the coming year. So much, in fact, that in essence I’m starting 2017 “early.” I’ve finished all the 2016 projects that I’m going to get done before the calendar changes and it’s time to look ahead.
What did I accomplish in 2016? In some ares not at much as I’d like, but in other areas I accomplished things I never even considered doing during 2016. Life took twists and turns, as it always does and I (mostly) succeeded in keeping up. Even though my plans for 2016 didn’t go as I’d intended, it was still a good year for us. Of course, I consider a “good year” to be any year where we make progress on our goals, and everyone is healthy. I very much believe in finding the good in absolutely everything.
Moving on to 2017, it’s my intention to focus on building my coaching business. I’ve done a good bit of personal work this year that has helped me become mentally ready to step out and teach others how to transform their health, attitudes, and prosperity.
I’ve already taken steps to fulfill that intention.
Some of the Internet-based projects I’m currently working on include:
- on-line Reiki Level 1 class
- Booklet to educate people on natural ways to counter Seasonal Affective Disorder
- a prosperity workbook for teens
- a prosperity workbook for kids
These four projects should be ready for release in the first half of 2017. I’ve also got a few local projects in the works. I’m developing a class on health and wellness targeted to my local community, working toward partnering with two local health centers, and I’m expanding my health coach marketing into some the surrounding towns and cities.
Why am I sharing this? Because I feel the process of setting intentions, desires and goals is important to overall physical and mental health. When you’re aware of your intentions you create a road map for yourself and your future. Intention setting paves the way for examining desires and setting goals. You can’t possibly map how you’re going to get there, if you don’t understand where “there” is.
What do I mean? I used my intentions as a guide to determine my desires. Then I used a combination of the two as a basis for setting my 2017 goals.
My intentions look a little like mission statements, for example:
My intention is to teach people how to positively change their habits, thoughts and actions to improve their physical, mental and spiritual health.
My intention is to build a steady and reliable income based on my education, skills, and certifications in the areas of natural health, wellness and spiritual growth.
My intention is to continue learning so that I may improve my ability to fulfill the first intention.
From those statements, I figured out what my desires are. In this case, I mean I figured out how I could fulfill my intentions in ways that I enjoy, that fit into my current life, and that will give me a sense of fulfillment. Understanding what fits into your life, what you enjoy, and what fulfills you is important to success. Too many people are stuck in jobs they hate, feeling stressed an unfulfilled simply to earn a paycheck. But being in that all-to-common situation causes physical and emotional stress and undermines all forms of health. Getting out of harmful and stressful situations require taking an honest look at your life, your responsibilities, and what’s really important to you.
In my case, I *could* take my new Primal Coach certification and go work 40 hours per week as a gym coach or personal trainer. There are quite a few gyms within a reasonable drive that hire coaches and personal trainers. But, working regular hours doesn’t fit in with my life right now. I’m a homeschool mom and not only do we have schoolwork to attend to during the typical 8-5 workday, but I also need to get my kids to and from activities. Because of my responsibility to educating my kids, I can’t be available to work a typical schedule. I need more control over my time.
After evaluating my lifestyle, priorities and responsibilities I was able to define my desires.My desires are to help and teach as many people as possible through on-line and local classes, books and seminars. I would like to work with a few local clients in-person, and I would like to work with a few clients using Internet technology as our communication medium. I desire to maintain control over my schedule so that I have the flexibility I need. I also desire to use all my education and training. That means combining naturopathy, herbal medicine, Reiki, EFT, Primal Certification and minister ordination to develop a comprehensive package for clients.
The next step is to use intentions and desires to set goals. Since I desire to teach primarily through classes, seminars and books, I need to complete those in development, as well as plan future projects to meet the needs of those people who wish to learn from me.
From there, I looked at my project list and determined which projects meet the needs of my current readers and clients– that became my shortlist. Then, I evaluated my energy and desire to complete each item on my shortlist, and choose 6 projects to focus my energy on. Those became my goals.
Every person’s process is a little different. But, what’s important is that you have a process for determining 1. what you want your life to look like, 2. what’s really important to you, and 3. what you most want to work on.
Doing things we dislike causes stress. Stress causes or contributes to a variety of health problems, including systemic inflammation, heart disease, stroke, headaches, mood changes, depression, and even cancer. Managing your work life, and ensuring it fits into your desired lifestyle not only helps manage stress, but it also helps eliminate stress.
