“What Are Your Personal Goals?” by Joan Y. Edwards
Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and/or subscribing to my blog.
I recommend five personal goals for this year.
- Celebrate
- Have Faith in Yourself
- Be Thankful
- Accept Yourself As You Are
- Relinquish Control
1. Celebrate
It is great to celebrate any time and every possible moment in your life.Oprah Winfrey said, “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
- Have a picnic on your living room floor.
- Read your favorite book.
- Call a friend.
- Sit at the edge of your yard and watch for wildlife.
- Sit at a window and rejoice that you are comfortable.
2. Have Faith in Yourself
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen…Frank Lloyd Wright
- Don’t feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them…Catherine Pulsifer
- If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning…Gandhi
- It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action…Lin Yutang
- Believe in yourself and try not to take anything personally…Chris Kattan.
- Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string…Ralph Waldo Emerson.
3. Be Thankful
- Albert Schweitzer quote: “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit
- Buddha quote: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
- Thornton Wilder quote: “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
- Yogi Bhajan quote: “Gratitude is the open door to abundance.”
If you want something other than what you have, be grateful for what you have. If you are unhappy with the situation you are in, be grateful that it’s not worse, and believe it can be what is better. Focus on what you want. Be grateful for what you have.
4. Accept Yourself As You Are
For the last three years I have been studying with Hale Dwoskin about letting go.
Letting go of expectations allows you to enjoy the moment as it is.
Letting go of wanting and trying to get control of the people in our lives, frees us to enjoy the gifts they have to give us.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t set goals for yourself. It means to stop spending all of your energy resisting the way things are. When you take back your energy, then you make a better pathway for your new and improved life to enter.
I think a lot of unhappiness comes from not enjoying things as they are and wanting something else.
I think the saying that the following saying that was prevalent in 2012 is very powerful and healing: “It is what it is”
5. Relinquish Control
It’s amazing how much human beings want control of things. When you don’t know how it’s going to turn out, you are afraid to venture into the “unknown.” If you know it’s going to turn out okay, then you are willing to take a chance. When you get your belief system straight, you realize that all events lead you to your goals. They may be interesting detours, but if you reset your beliefs and restate your goals, you will get there.
Resources:
- Brainy Quotes. “Believe in Yourself:” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/believe_in_yourself.html#8WmP1bXCydDPA7xX.99
- Brené Brown. “The Power of Vulnerability:” http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
- Darcy Pattison. “Shame, Vulnerability and Hiding:” http://www.darcypattison.com/writing-life/shame-vulnerability-and-hiding/
- Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Copyright © 2013 Joan Y. Edwards. All rights reserved.
Joan,
Great lessons to be learned here. I loved the quotes you selected and it’s wonderful that you pulled resources for further study. I watched Brene Brown on video earlier today when I saw the link at Darcy Pattison’s blog. It takes years of research to perfect some of these findings. Thanks for discovering and organizing this for your readers. I hope you meet all your goals in 2013.
Dear Linda,
Thanks for writing. I am glad that you liked the quotes I chose. I don’t think you can hear too many positive motivating quotes. I put the ones that resonate in my heart. I need to add Darcy Pattison’s blog to the resources. She listed Brene Brown’s video. Good luck with your goals in 2013.
Happy New Year, Joan!
I love your list. Relinquishing control will be on the top of my list for 2013. Ha! We’ll see. And I agree with Linda, Brene Brown’s video is excellent. Hi Linda!
Dear Tracy,
Thanks for writing. I’m glad you love my list. Relinquishing control is a bit tricky when it’s at the top of your list or the bottom of your list. Becoming aware that I’m trying to control the situation helps me let go. I hope that you will gain confidence and a great feeling from letting go and enjoying each moment for being as it is.
I appreciate you. Brene Brown is very entertaining and enlightening. She is also honest which makes her video even more meaningful.
Celebrate you!
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Never giving up is the key! 🙂
Dear Tracy,
Amen to that!
Celebrate you.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Hi Joan,
My personal goal for 2013 is to celebrate the publication of a new book, the first in a couple of years. It is “Ascending Spiral: Humanity’s last chance.”
It is one person’s journey through many lives, with the purpose of being part of the effort to save us from self-destruction.
Because that’s been my personal goal since 1972.
🙂
Bob
Dear Dr. Bob,
It is so good to hear from you. Thanks for writing. I’m excited that you’re celebrating the publication of your book, “Ascending Spiral: Humanity’s Last Chance.” I am excited and celebrate with you. That’s a long term goal that I can see the many steps you’ve taken personally to help create a better world. Thanks for critiquing Immigrant Heart for me. A publisher is interested in seeing it. More reason for me to get my revisions done as suggested by you.
Celebrate you every second
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Hi Joan! Happy New Year! And thanks for the wonderful resolution ideas replete with excellent words of wisdom! I recognize many of those same concepts from the exceptional mini lessons you have presented to our writing group! I will try to incorporate some of these into my “2013 Is My Year” list!
Dear Ann,
Good to hear from you. Thanks for writing. Happy New Year to you. You’re welcome for the resolution ideas. I’m glad you think they were filled with words of wisdom. You are right, some of them I presented in mini-lessons I gave at our writer’s group. I wish you good luck with all of your goals for 2013 and beyond. Congratulations again on your 3 book contract with Peak City Publishing. Awesome!
Celebrate you every minute
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Joan, another amazing post. I love the quotes also. I don’t know where you find the time. Your posts are so good, I’m got to get them via email!
Dear Karen,
Thanks for writing. It is so good to hear from you. Thank you for the compliment. I am bowing humbly. Just subscribe for email in the left hand column. That would honor me greatly.
Celebrate you.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
A boost to personal confidence! Thank you, Joan– and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Dear Maureen,
It is so good to hear from you. Thanks for writing. You’re welcome for my boost ot your personal confidence. You deserve a thousand kudos to surround you!
Celebrate you
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often.
Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!
Dear Collette,
Thanks for writing. I’m glad you like the design and layout of my blog. It is one of the free themes provided by WordPress.com blogs. They have oodles and caboodles of them. Bloggers get to choose one that meets their needs and style.
Celebrate you.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Brilliant as ever, Joan. You always seem to have your finger on the pulse to inspire when and as needed.
Dear Anne,
Thank you for writing. I appreciate your compliment of my post being, “Brilliant.” That makes me smile. I’m glad my words inspire you and come at the time you need them. I bow humbly.
Celebrate you today.
You are a gift.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards