It's Groundhog Day: Do You Know Where Your Goals Are?

In the blink of an eye, four months have passed since my last blog entry. A full season--in fact, one-third of a year--has elapsed and all the while my thoughts carried ideas for blogs I had every intention of writing once a month. Yet, here I am without a published blog since last September.

This observation feels even more relevant today, Groundhog Day, also known as Candlemas or Imbolc in other traditions.  In my research on this day, which celebrates the mid-point of winter and heralds the [not soon enough] arrival of spring, I felt most drawn to the concept of purification. On the mundane level, this purification means cleaning the house and clearing out closets, papers, and items we no longer need.   On a deeper level, this purification also applies to all areas of our lives, including relationships, ideas, and habits that no longer serve us.  This purification process clears out a symbolic space so that we have a fertile field to plant the seeds of our dreams, ambitions, and goals for the spring.

This mid-point provides the opportune time to assess where we are on those New Year's goals and resolutions.  It is never to late to set or reset a dream or put an idea in motion.  One enjoyable aspect of coaching is helping people attain their goals and dreams; this process works because clients have created accountability to themselves by stating their goals aloud and checking in regularly on their progress.  In our professional lives we may have plenty of outside forces to  keep us accountable.  For our personal dreams and desires, though, we may have to create a system of accountability to keep us on task.  Otherwise, the months slip by as our dreams are brushed aside.

Myriad methods exist for creating and specifying goals, some of which I have covered in previous blogs.1  Becoming accountable to those goals is the next step.  With any goal, resolution, or dream, it must be  articulated in the present tense, as if it has already been attained.  Create an awareness for yourself by stating it and seeing it everyday. This could take the form of a picture, a few words on a piece of paper, or a mantra. In some small way, bring yourself to the vision every day.

Action empowers the goal.  After setting the intention and the goal with specificity, without action forward, you are in a car without gas. If you have too many items on your list to change, improve, acquire, or achieve, you may end up feeling “stuck” or immobile.  At times like this it helps to make one master list and then prioritize to whittle it down to only two or three focus points.

This mid-point of the season is a call to action.  You can always use an Etch-a-Sketch on those resolutions and begin anew.  Before you know it, four months will have passed, and your seeds of dreams and desires will already be in full bloom!



1 A life coach could assist, too, if the process feels overwhelming or you want to move through the process quicker.