FRIDAY NOTIONS
You Can Control Your Life If You Want To
Here’s the plan for a better life for you and others
Are you happy and pleased with where you are? I want to share a family tradition with you. We do this every year between Christmas and New Year, but you can do it over a weekend.
Here’s what we do: we plan, set goals, and visualize what we want. Then we put our thoughts in writing. This way we know how to achieve it. If you haven’t sensed it yet, let me make it clear.
We use this time to examine all the goal-setting and planning of the previous year and set new achievement goals for the coming year.
We can’t take credit for this amazingly simple idea. It was first discussed in the brilliant book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This book now has several versions available. While chasing after riches is pretty standard, there are so many more things to achieve that when mastered will not only help you achieve riches but so much more.
Two Examples
Let me share an example. If you're a father, you’ll understand this. What’s more important to you? A child’s love and respect or a few extra dollars in your pocket?
Let me give you one more example. A loving partner that shares your same spiritual values or a few extra dollars?
Personally, I stopped chasing money in my mid-forties when I met my wife, Margaret. No, it wasn’t something either of us said. It was more like something I realized. I wanted to spend time with my wife. While doing that, she helped me realize that I could have a better relationship with my own children after a very messy divorce from their mother.
Here is our System
I use the time to review last year’s goals and visualize new goals for the coming year. Take whatever time you need to be alone. What area of your being do you want to improve?
Here’s my list:
- Decide how much time I’ll commit to accomplishing my goals
- Improve my own sense of spirituality
- Improve my relationship with my wife, children, friends, co-workers, or employees.
- Review and improve my priority list, such as spirituality, my wife, children, friends, business, etc.
What about that etc.?
Over the years I’ve found that things change, especially priorities. It can be immediate, in the future, or long-term. This is a contingency worth planning for, and the, etc., accomplishes the task.
There might not be immediate results, but my personal experience has been that I have seen it many times in my life’s path. I know this as an absolute: Setting goals that make you a better person will absolutely Refresh YOUR Soul.
I want to thank Nancy Blackman and the other editors of Refresh the Soul. Their tireless work to make the publication the best is appreciated by those of us that write for the publication.
