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11 Insights That Align Your Goals To Your Passions by @coachlorimcneil

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11 Insights That Align Your Goals To Your Passions

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Let’s face it. There are thousands of ways that we can achieve our goals. Each of us have a passion to arrive, become, or create. The most beautiful thing in the world of business is when we align our goals to our passions because only then will we achieve something, become someone, or create anything that we are proud of and that produces income for us.

We can do anything for a period of time with a bit of “success” in it, however, sustainability becomes simple (notice I did not say easy) when we can align passions to goals. I talk to people every day about creating legacy in their business, and over the years I have gained some valuable insights from clients and colleagues about aligning goals and passions.

Here are 11 insights that will help you align goals with passion.

  1. Never stop learning. Deeper than that is to learn as you go. We can learn new skills and new techniques, however many of us can get stuck thinking and believing that we cannot move further until we learn something.
  2. Stay curious. Don’t be afraid to take that next step, even if it around a dark corner. The more curious you become, the more curious you are. If you have kids (or know kids or have ever been a kid yourself) you can watch their curiosity run their day. Never afraid to check out something new. We tens to lose that curiosity as adults. Why? Consequences. Kids don’t think about consequences. If they get one, they accept it (sometimes it can take a while), then move on. They don’t stay in one place. We can learn a lot about curiosity from them.
  3. Appreciate the process. Understanding that some things won’t work out or may take a longer time than hoped for will help keep you from stopping. Being present in your journey allows you to see all the nooks and crannies that are there and oftentimes those nooks and crannies deliver some great insights.
  4. Be patient with time. When we accept time as it is – a never ending never returning event in life, then time becomes our ally not our adversary. Because we see time as an ally, we are aware of what it can do and therefore we tend to use it more carefully, efficiently, and graciously.
  5. Write a six (6) month “I want it now” list. List out those things you want to accomplish in the next six months. No explanations, reasons, or justifications just write the list. Then…
  6. Write affirmations about the list. Under each item you wrote down, list out up to 10 affirmations (present tense) about those items because this will help make those goals specific. Writing these affirmations about what you want is powerful and authentic.
  7. Review your list. Now it is time to look over the list you created and see if what you wrote is measurable, motivational, and mature. Therefore, having wants that are measurable allows for you to track progress. When you are motivated to get what you want, you will push forward to obtain it. Finally, are your wants mature. If you live in an apartment in New York City, wanting a pony because you can afford one, but you never had one as a kid is not necessarily a mature goal. In other words, finding a house with land outside the city so you can purchase that pony is.
  8. If needed, rewrite your list. If any of your wants cannot be measured or they do not motivate you to strive for them or they are not mature, keep going until they are. Finally, tape the list somewhere you can see it every day.
  9. Invest 5-10 minutes a day for 21 days to review them. Allow yourself to mediate on your wants. Think about them. Mull them over in your head. Speak them out loud and notice any excitement or anticipation that comes up.
  10. Go be active. Physical exercise and exertion produce many results. One big result is the perseverance needed mentally. You’ll need it.
  11. Vision board your want list. If you don’t have a vision board, now is a great time to make one. If you have a vision board, and you have grasped these insights, review where you currently are in achieving your goals.

The Journey

The journey to pairing your goals to your passions is best when sprinkled with some fun. In conclusion, these 11 insights are meant to encourage, entice, and help you engage with yourself in deeper ways. Enjoy the journey.

 

Becoming Fearless by @coachlorimcneil

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Everyone has experienced some degree of fear in their life. Life would not be life if there were nothing to overcome or get through. Life would in fact be boring if we merely existed and nothing challenged us or pushed us to get out of our comfort zone. It is through the uncomfortable that growth happens.

Addressing Your Fears

When we address fear, we are addressing those limiting beliefs which paralyze us too often. Fear is a natural reaction to something wanting us to move from our comfort zone. Certainly, some fear is unhealthy fear (or is it?). Assuredly, some fear is brought upon knowingly (like getting on that roller coaster).

What is fear? We each have our favorite acronym for FEAR. Here are two of the most common ones out there:

Face Everything And Rise

Forget Everything And Run

One presents us with the ability to accept what is happening and move through it, and the other one is backing up and moving away from it.

Becoming fearless is about making conscious decisions in the moment to attack fear head on, no matter the fear. The newest acronym of fear I like is…

Failing (to) Engage, Act, (or) Respond

Before we address how to be fearless let’s first break down why we run from fear. When circumstances present themselves to us that create fear, our natural inclination is to run. Why?

Safety – Security – Stability.

These three words are at the heart of every women’s core. Safety creates an atmosphere to feel secure and when we feel secure there is a stability to our demeanor. When one of those core positions are threatened (no matter who, what, where, when, why, or how) fear will immediately come forward to make a barrier so that what is lacking can be protected and/or restored. Our bodies are designed to maintain homeostasis.

When met with a circumstance or a scenario, that homeostasis becomes susceptible to puncture. Susceptibility thus fashions unwanted vulnerability, helplessness, or defenselessness. This can paralyze how we confront what is happening. We must then learn how to become fearless, to rise above. We accomplish this by …

Freely Engaging, Acting, (or) Responding 

The same energy that causes us to run away is the same energy that it takes to rise above. This indicates why becoming fearless is so important.

We become when we do.

What a powerful and beautiful statement. “We become when we do” emphasizes that something happens to us (internally) when we encounter things that happen around us (externally).

What is the “do” that we should be doing?

The Doing Is The Hardest Part

That doing is either engaging, acting, or responding to whatever circumstance is upon us. Engaging it requires thought, and most often critical thought. Critical thought allows for dialogue to materialize. Creating dialogue produces knowledge. Knowledge springs forth wisdom to know how to take the next step, which is to act.

Acting upon a circumstance forces change. We are often gripped by fear by feeling trapped or stuck. Knowing that change is available to us moves us beyond those feelings because action demands change. Therefore, known change is a catalyst to producing a response.

Responding to fear is taking a positive approach rather than a negative one, and negativity often looks like reacting. Responding is maintaining control of what is going on even because we control our own words or actions.

Becoming Fearless

Becoming fearless is… A choice – rise or run. A decision –  free or frozen. A possibility – engage or ignore. An ability – change or be changed. A compulsion – respond or react.

Becoming fearless is… climbing up the stairway of opportunity that leads to freedom.