This message is for anyone who sets goals for the day and then does not reach them ;)
I have LOVED reading about how people have been using this unexpected time at home to dive into hobbies, become healthier, tend to our relationships, clean and organize overdue spaces, cultivate meditation practices, and other wonderful things. Yes and yay! 🤸♀️🎉🌈🌟
It’s truly so beautiful, and, as someone who studies happiness, I am a big enthusiast for goals — even when we don’t fully reach them. ;)
Why?
The *striving towards something* gives our life greater purpose and meaning.
As e-x-p-a-n-s-i-v-e beings (which I believe we all are), we long to grow, to not feel stuck or stagnant. 🌱
The hope and possibility of things becoming better ⏩ makes us feel more fully alive.
And research even shows: simply going after our dreams and goals — whether we achieve them, fail at them, or not — is better for our self-esteem and happiness than never trying.
The biggest challenges can happen when we stop even setting them.
So big cheers for living with intention and setting goals (even tiny ones), over and over, day after day.
*And* I also get what it’s like to set goals or intentions for the day — and then not achieve them. ;)
If you are someone who can be hard on yourself or beat yourself up when this happens, here are 3 go-to mindset shifts that help me stay focused on what I still want to do (rather than what I didn’t do)…
✨(1) We are all lifelong students here at Earth School.✨
The aim is not to get it perfect or do everything right. We are truly here to learn and grow, to make mistakes and learn and grow some more. Shifting our focus from “getting it right” → to “learning and growing from everything we can” is a much healthier and more achievable focus. :)
✨(2) “Now I know!” ✨
This is one of my personal mantras that I say all the time to myself. Whenever things don’t go as planned, I simply respond with this. It’s so much lighter to respond with “Now I know!” than “I should’ve known.” It also makes moving on from it so much easier.
✨ (3) Barriers to our goals hang around until we learn everything we need to from them.✨
From my own personal experience and the honor of supporting thousands of clients over the years, it is undeniably clear: we humans will repeat the exact same lesson — until we hear and implement all of the wisdom available for us in it (which is why self-reflection is so important).
When we fall back into the same patterns we’ve already learned from countless times, rather than see it as regressing, we can choose to see it as one less time we have to fall into the old pattern again. 👍
In other words, we aren’t going backwards but actually moving FORWARDS by checking off one less time we will repeat it. 🎉
This is one of the reasons why I fell in love with SPIRALS many years ago.
If you look at a point on a spiral, it may appear that you are passing by and repeating the same point over and over. However, as we journey along an upward spiral, we continually see the same challenge from a more elevated, wiser perspective.
All this to say ~ I am celebrating you and sending all sorts of spiraling blessings for whatever goals and intentions you have set and are continuing to set for this time (they are so important!). 💖
And I am also sending loads of compassion, hugs, and knowing smiles for the nearly universal experience of setting goals for the day that don’t quite get accomplished in the ways we set out to do 
It’s *all* such an invaluable part of the journey 🙏
PS: Also, to be clear, goals don’t always need to be traditional ones. A “goal” or intention can certainly be to heal or to just be present, connected, peaceful, loving ~ those are beautiful focuses to have too 🥰
Abundant Love and Joy,
