Flexibility With Personal Goals Fixes Your Flow

You may approach your personal goals with every intention of adhering to routines and habits that allow for flow and ease. Just then, as life will have it, the unexpected happens! Achieving balance in life requires the freedom to adapt plans, sometimes without notice. How willing and able you flex with change shapes your experiences and influences outcomes. Rigidity impedes energetic flow. Regularly reassess your personal goals even when there are no fires to put out to maintain balance and avoid stalled or leaky energy.

Personal Goals and Plan B, C or D!

One of my personal goals is to write at least one blog a month. Of the many personal goals I have, it feels reachable. However, this is not the blog I intended to publish for May. The article I began reveals many ways consumers are misled, and I’ve already written roughly half of it. That was Plan A. Later, I learned I’d be hosting a graduation party and taking my mom in for surgery. Writing now on the eve of the last day of the month, I reflect on the many ways the unexpected has altered my routine and focus. This is Plan B.

Personal goals progress with openness to change. Some plans don’t require multiple backups, but it’s still important to adapt as situations change. Develop skill at adjusting with grounded awareness, not knee-jerk reactivity. This calls for intentional pausing, and reflecting before taking action. Discernment practiced well comes from a relaxed inner being. Here thoughts of plans B, C, or D flow with gentle compassion of “all things considered” instead of it’s never going to work now.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Robert Burns

Notice the part of you that catastrophes. The fear of change can plant doubts in your mind, making you think that your plans or goals are bound to fail, or worse, that you are undeserving of achieving personal goals. It may lead you to misdirect your attention away from higher priorities.

The date set for the party gave me just over two weeks to get things in order. My yard and my home needed ‘sprucing’ and attention. Snapped into the awareness that I had neglected gardens, I could feel myself contract at the thought of the amount of labor needed to get things in order. The gardener has been doing other things and frankly is out of landscaper ‘shape’. Shifting gears, I moved into gardening compulsion, and rearranged plants until I was practically digging holes in the dark.

My daughter yells from the window, ‘are you still out there? Come in and eat!’.

Align Within Your Values to Effectively Adapt Your Plans.

These past two weeks included long, full physical days, doctor’s visits, and cooking marathons. There were fewer leisurely morning strolls and decompressing baths. I did not floss well or write. My routines sustain me and I noticed the shift away from them by the sensation of constant contraction in my gut.

The life I live aligns with my values. I acknowledge the gift and the privilege. For this short time, the personal goals of caring for and celebrating my loved ones take precedence over all others. The blog and the bath can wait. I feel fortunate to have these inconveniences. Not too long ago, out of necessity, my habits excluded any real self-care, and I never felt I dedicated enough time to my important people. Still, my mornings felt rushed, and my energy was off balance.

I sat on my bench in the woods, coffee in hand, with a list of tasks racing through my thoughts. I’m doubtful I can retrieve these considerations at a later time when the necessity arises. What I need is a pensieve, a magical device from Harry Potter to extract my thoughts for later access. I’ll be free to live in the moment, without anxious anticipation of losing what I believe are rare coins, not irrelevant internal chatter.

Unsettled, I direct my cat, Miss Babbette, out of the predator-filled woods in the usual fashion. Several gentle consecutive taps on her butt with a silly repetitive murmuring, bah, bah, bah! She listens to the birds while obstinately refusing to return to the house. The Red-Eyed Vireo calls out and I know that message: “I am here! Where are you?” Where am I in thought and emotion? This reminds me of the value of these moments. This time matters to Babbette and me, and I want to be with her and let everything else go.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

Albus Dumbledore

By being still, we can clear our thoughts and prioritize what matters. I glance down at my Christmas mug with the gold embellishments that set small fires if placed in the microwave. It’s a reminder of my good fortune. Every day of our lives, there are gifts.

Upon my return to the house, the questions I had seemed answered, with a few solid insights, I felt more peaceful, optimistic, and prepared to tackle each task moment by moment. I decided the article I started had solid bones, but needed to take a backseat. I’d use my lists and voice recorder in the pensieve’s absence. Reminded of the value of silence and stillness to maintain flow, I feel my energy uplift and I empower the unfolding.

Prioritize Personal Goals All Things Considered

I realize I’d prioritized moving plants and mulching over all other undertakings. Despite the abundance of tasks to complete, I became overwhelmed with the yard. The garden’s completion gave me a fresh understanding. In 2020, I began my woodland garden with a vision to expand it, but in the absence of visitors, I convinced myself the endeavor was not worthwhile. An unconscious feeling of self-abandonment of this personal goal spurred my over-attention to it.

We are different people to many people in our lives. This is besides the greater roles that we serve within work or community. Let us prioritize ourselves in this mix. To do this, you may need to create a list of your personal goals (if you don’t already have one). The balance or lack of those focused on self versus on others may surprise you.

When Personal Goals Impede Healthy Habits, Make Change

To stay balanced, notice when your personal goals are compromising your daily healthy habits. If you’re engrossed in an impassioned project and miss brushing your teeth it’s not the same as losing several days of sleep or eating garbage for consecutive days because you are anxiously anticipating taking action. Slow down to know when it’s time to change course. Reflect on your daily habits and make your wellness a priority above all else. Read How to Stay Healthy: (18) Simple Habits for tips.

A New Month With New Personal Goals

It is my birthday month with a long-awaited return to the beach. A fresh breath after a busy May permits me to focus on my primary personal goal for June: to swim in the ocean. An added exercise goal usually precedes this plan to ensure my belly stays in my swimsuit, even if I drink beer on the beach. Not the ABS of steel kind of exercise of my youth, but modest planks and bicycle abs. I feel less enthusiastic this year. Focus on higher things has altered my view of this personal goal. What was once a priority now feels pointless and vain. I remember my full-piece swimsuit and sarong! Flexibility and flow have a new appeal.

A new month, a new day, a new moment offers possibilities to tweak, abandon, or adopt personal goals that are a match to your present energy and circumstances. Listen to the bird’s call to be grounded and present with yourself. This helps you sense where your energy is best served. Keep the Jenga tower of your life tipped toward your values and your personal goals will continue to flow into favorable outcomes regardless of modifications.

Please visit my Coaching Service’s page for more information or contact me to book an appointment for support with developing and adhering to personal goals with flexibility. If changes to your physical environment; such as an influx of estate items, business goods or if finally cleaning cluttered areas, have you feeling stuck, visit me here: Estelle Bonaceto.

Treat yourself well, and allow the freedom to adapt personal goals as necessary to changing circumstances.