Have you ever told yourself once you meet x,y, or z goal you’ll be happier?
I know I’m not alone in this.
The assumption driving most goal setting is the notion that once you reach your goal, you will be happy. Whether the goal is how quickly you can run a mile, how much you can bench press, a particular yoga pose, the number on a scale, or less stress.
Most of us have been taught or role-modeled to equate reaching goals with happiness.
What if your goal was to focus on the process vs the product?
What if your happiness had nothing to do with the finish line of reaching your goal and everything to do with the starting line?
When you are product or end goal focused, the mind will jump to the finish line without ever going through the process of getting there. Many parts of yourself will revolt. It might be the part of you that thinks it will take too long, it will hurt, it costs too much or it will take away from what you’ve already got going in terms of the flow of your day, your family, your relationships.
You will NEVER feel ready if this is how you see, think and feel about making conscious changes in your lifestyle. It’s just too freaking huge and scary.
I’ve had so many goals gone bad from this kind of thinking in the past. I’ve beat myself up about it so many times until I learned that I was functioning in a faulty system. There was another way to go about it.
In the 12 month Embody Ease Journey we focus on the starting line and fall in love with the process versus the product. When we focus on the habit of getting ourselves to the starting line versus the finish line something magical takes place.
You cultivate integrity.
You start doing what you say you are going to do.
You start to trust your ability to follow through.
You experience success.
You start to experience more joy.
When you start where you are instead of thinking you need to get to another point on the map to even begin, you create the space to fall in love with the process versus the product.
It may sound crazy, but when you show up for yourself in this way, you start to access a deep-seated joy or ease vs a fleeting sense of happiness. Happiness is external and is dependent on reaching the goal, on someone else or external circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is the result of owning your efforts and side benefits of those efforts (i.e integrity, trust, successful, etc).
In what way do you need to be showing up more for yourself?
I’d love to hear,
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Rachel Peters is a yoga teacher, yoga health coach, lifestyle and habits expert, easeful living advocate, and lover of wild places. She leads others towards Embodying Ease through a yearlong wellness & lifestyle journey to dissolve perfectionism, embody daily habits that promote mental clarity, overall ease, and deeper connection to life on this wild ride of modern living. Learn MORE today!