Reach your goals

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Reach your goals Current mood: thoughtful When you decide to march toward a specific goal, is it better to "keep the faith", "your eyes on the prize", to maintain a clear focus and never waver from that path? Or is it better to take a guerrilla approach, keeping the ultimate goal in mind but scooting your way toward it any which way you can- dodging behind trees, perhaps taking a detour if necessary to avoid an obstacle in your way? On the one hand it seems the first approach is the best method- pure, simple and elemental. Visualize your goals, start off in that direction and never waver in your belief that you will find your way there. Treat it as a done deal. Do not hedge your bets, do not doubt that the universe will honor your convictions. Do this well, and you will manifest your Will. In practice however, I think it is more effective to combine the convictions of the first method with the flexibility and determination of the second. I have heard people who ascribe to the first method speak of keeping their minds and hearts open to their ultimate goal or something better, whichever path the Universe (or God, or spirits etc) feels is best. This is all well and good, but I think the problem lies in the fact that this is a passive approach. Many say that you must clear space in your life to make room for the good things you want to come in. That's probably true- but I don't think it's wise to stop there. As a matter of fact, I think that is barely the beginning. Making room in your life for your goals, clearly visualizing them and never doubting that you will reach them is a fine and necessary foundation, but it is only the foundation. To finish the temple you need blood, sweat and ingenuity. You need bricks and mortar. You have to build your way toward that goal, and if an obstacle presents itself you must find your way past it. You need a guerrilla approach. There is the popular phrase, "God helps those who help themselves". I think many people underestimate just how much God wants us to solve our own problems. They think they are marching toward their goals, but really they are wandering in circles trying to get past some roadblock- physical, mental or spiritual. It can be painful getting around these problems. There are briar patches, and ravines, and sometimes hungry wolves. You must be careful not to get so hung up on getting around a problem, that you miss seeing the simple way through. You also must beware of taking a side path that, rather than bringing you back toward your goal, actually turns out to be taking you far aside in a different direction. Sometimes you have to backtrack a bit. But if you do not lose faith in yourself, you visualize your goals clearly and maintain a steady persistence you will acheive your dreams (and more).