Upgrade Your Goal Setting Strategy With These Two Mental Shifts

Before we dive into the strategy for joyful goal setting, let me say that I am genuinely excited to connect with you. It may sound trite, but because you are reading this, I know that you have a desire to create positive change through the practice of Yoga, and nothing makes me happier than being surrounded by others that are on this same path!

As we learn from our Yoga practice, our mind has the power to greatly influence our experiences, and goal setting is no exception. It’s no surprise, then, that our mind can either be our greatest asset in setting strategic goals, or it can be our greatest hindrance. 

Begin with love.

We can either approach goals from a place of fear or love, and respectively, can either create more joy or more frustration.

When we approach goals from a place of fear, we fall into a trap of using goal setting as another opportunity to measure our worth externally. The underlying fear is that we are not good enough as we are; that we need to “fix” some broken part of ourselves. 

The truth is, your worth does not fluctuate whether or not you achieve a goal. 

According to the Yoga Sutras, there is a part of all of us that is unchanging. Call it Spirit, Soul, Highest Self, there is a part of us that is pure, radiant and lovable…always. This is Purusha. 

When we remember this, we can work to create positive change that uplifts us, while simultaneously embracing ourselves with unconditional love and acceptance. From this loving place, we know with certainty that we are worthy regardless of whether or not we execute an intended goal.

Focus on action vs outcome

Yoga is about being the hero of your life, but that doesn’t mean that we can dictate how events unfold. We learn through the tools of the practice to cultivate, Viveka, discernment, so we can decipher between what we can and cannot control.

Events + Response = Outcome

In the above formula, we cannot control the events of our lives and we cannot control the outcome, but we still have jurisdiction over one key element: our response! You can influence the outcome by changing your response, that’s where your power lies. 

We creating a goal, choose to focus on this piece of the puzzle. Setting a goal to lose 10 pounds is an outcome-oriented goal. If you want to lose 10 pounds, what actions do you have full control over that would lead to this outcome? An action-oriented goal would be to exercise for 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. This approach puts the power in your hands: fulfill your commitment to the action, and celebrate your success! The pounds either come off, or they don’t, but you successfully achieved your goal.