Discovering Your Aspirations

I’d wager a guess that most of you reading this post are ignoring your spouse while scrolling on your phone and saying mmm… every so often have a particular goal that you are either currently pursuing or would like to pursue.

Whether it’s a health and fitness goal, a financial goal, or a personal development goal, I feel like most people (who have the space in their lives to think about such things) have something that they are working towards.

The longer I spend in the coaching world, the more I’ve realized the importance of clarifying your aspirations and writing down your goals. It’s really hard to get where you want to go if you left the printed Map Quest directions at home.

Let’s just take a moment here and give thanks for technology so that you no longer have to fight with your partner when you’re on your way to Washington D.C. for a wedding but you somehow lost the last page of directions and spend two hours circling the D.C. beltway and couldn’t call anyone because cell phones weren’t really a thing yet.

I’m not saying this happened, but we broke up not long after the trip…

I digress.

Recently, one of my coaches (I have several at this point in my life), suggested an exercise for me that I’ve found incredibly helpful in considering my goals. Take a piece of paper, and write at the top “wouldn’t it be great if…” And then make a list of everything that comes to mind.

Now look at the goals that you are currently thinking about or working on.

Are you pursuing a goal that you want to be working towards or that you feel like you should be working on?

We see it so often in the health and fitness world - someone sits down for a strategy session and we set a goal to track food or increase protein (which are both excellent goals) - but when we come back together the person hasn't done either.

The truth is, while they know those two goals are important, their heart isn't in it. That's not really what they want to work on. The ambivalence about working on the habit - you both want to track your food and just put your phone away - impedes progress and often leads to shame and guilt.

What I like about the “wouldn’t it be great if” exercise is that it’s an opportunity to dig into what you really want. To take your thinking hat off and put your daydreaming hat on.

And use that exercise to explore what your heart wants. Not what your head thinks you should want.

Progress breeds motivation in all areas of your life. If you've been wanting to learn Italian and you annoy your spouse repeating phrases over and over again aloud start crushing your lessons, that good feeling of accomplishment is going to carry over into other areas of your life.

If I can learn Italian and drive my spouse crazy, what else can I do? I bet I can spatchcock that chicken all by myself! And figure out how to blanche broccoli! And wear an inflatable sloth costume to the grocery store!

So...what are some of your "wouldn't it be great if thoughts? I'd love to hear them.