Like many people, at New Year I review the year that’s just gone and set myself goals for the year to come. I got a shock when I looked at the 8 goals I set for myself this time last year: I had achieved none of them! And yet I’d had a fabulous 2011. One of the highlights was delivering a five-day training course in French, possibly the biggest professional challenge of my career to date. It was a great success and led to two more similar contracts. But as I planned my year back in January 2011 I could never have predicted it.
So goal setting is good for establishing the direction in which you intend to travel. But sometimes our journeys take a different path; then pre-set goals cannot always take account of changing circumstances. My daily and weekly practice of setting goals is invaluable; the review and accountability I have to myself help to keep me on track. But one of the joys of life is being open to the unexpected, to those serendipitous encounters or to the whispered but insistent appeal of your intuitions.
So be kind to yourself if you didn’t achieve all you set out to do in 2011. By all means imagine how you’d like your life to be in 12 months’ time. But make sure that you remain open to the present, to the now; that is the only place where you ever actually are; and where the real joy of the your journey will thrill and fulfil you.
Happy New Year.
Have a look at some my past articles in dealing with the unexpected:
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