“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This is a powerful quote. We’ve all had the experience that when we truly set our minds to do something, to make a commitment to an achievement, that things suddenly seem to fall into place for us, to help us along the way—what Goethe calls “Providence.”
In looking back on my many years and many friends, and all my reading, I am not sure that any of us really commits to New Year’s goals. We only say “I am going to be kinder to my kids,” or “I am going to quit smoking, or do better at work.” But have we made a commitment to these goals? Until we do, Providence will not help us, and our goals will go by the wayside.
So how do you commit to a goal, to something in the future, yet-to-happen? I think our usual methods are inside-out: we want the behavior to happen, but we have not readied ourselves. That means that it is more likely we will fail to achieve our goals, which sets us up for disappointment in ourselves and puts more stress on an already pressurized cauldron. But there is a way to prepare for pressure-free success. And it starts by striving to appreciate ourselves. The first step is stopping the “monkey chatter” of self-negative talk. That means looking out for it even in the way we set our goals.
We tend to frame our goals in ways that presuppose we are imperfect and need to change. What if, instead, we liked ourselves so much that we wanted to responsibly take care of ourselves? That’s the meaning of “appreciate ourselves.” If we can make that commitment to ourselves, then “I am going to lose weight” becomes “I’m choosing now to eat nutritiously,” and “I am going to quite smoking” is now “Smoking hurts me and my family, and it’s time to stop doing that.” With our commitment in place, we may just find that Providence is at hand to supply the help we need to reach our goals.
PLEASE COMMENT
Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories. Once a month, I will choose one commenter to contact for a free coaching session.
HOW TO REACH ME
www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching
www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching
www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching
Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editorM. C. Pastoret.
