I seem to be all about posting goals and dreams this week, so here’s another… My dream view to wake up to:

I grew up on Lake Erie, and I really miss waking up to views like this. This one is of Lake Ontario and was taken from the pier in Port Hope. My goal is to find an affordable place to live on the lakeshore, before the summer’s out.

For more wonderfully watery sights, be sure to check out Watery Wednesday. And of course, there’s Outdoor Wednesday for more outdoor goodness.

Have an amazing day!

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1. Wintery Watery Zoo Views
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On Thursday I read Chapter 2 of Think and Grow Rich, and I have to tell you it absolutely blew me away. It’s taken me a couple of days of thinking and pondering the topic to actually come up with a coherent post about it. And it isn’t just the step-by-step method Hill outlines for turning any definite goal into a physical reality, although I’ve already put that to use to plan my birthday giveaway and the outcome I expect from it. I think what got to me most was the fact that even though this was written in the 1930s, it is so relevant to today and what’s happening in today’s economy.

This passage really hit me in the context of internet marketing and of thinking about where I want to take my own business over the next few years:

“We who are in this race for riches should be encouraged to know that this changed world in which we live is demanding new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders, new inventions, new methods of teaching, new methods of marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the radio, new ideas for moving pictures.”

For someone like me who creates content, that statement is like a blanket validation that what I do is a good and useful thing. Believe me, there are days when I wonder if anyone is even reading what I’m writing. But I read that and I thought, “Yes! I can be that person. I can write new books. I can create new audio products. I can create new videos. I can teach people new ways of creating content.”

For the first time in years my fears of not being good enough, of being laughed at, of being told that no one likes me and why would anyone want me around have taken a back seat to thoughts of “Why not me? I have useful and valuable experiences to share with people and I can stand up and share them!” And that is a very huge step, and I am really proud of myself for not just thinking it, but being able to say it out loud.

Now, you wanna know the really cool thing about all of this? In the past two days since I read this and had those amazing thoughts I’ve had someone offer to do a teleseminar with me, another person say that my experience would be an asset to their group, and yet another person called me inspiring. I’m taking each and every one of those incidents as confirmation that yes, I can make my desire to help people a reality. And yeah, I’m blowing my own horn a little bit here, but I honestly don’t think any of that would’ve happened had I not been reading this particular book at this particular time. Sure it might have come somewhere down the road, but the odds are pretty good that for the immediate future I would still be slinking around in the shadows wanting desperately to help but being afraid of stepping up and doing it.

Hill says “No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it.” I truly believe that because I’ve always had the desire to create a business out of helping people but until now I never had the belief in myself that I could do it and be successful at it.

Now that I’ve taken the first step, I can’t wait to see where the road leads. :)

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I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching over the past few days, and it seems that my plans are changing once again. It looks like I’m staying put here for a little longer, but for the first time in years I’m okay with that.

While I was dealing with the idea of not moving this spring, one of the questions that kept coming up over and over was “Why am I holding on to a goal that no longer fits who I am in this moment?”

I realized that while I have changed a lot in the past year, I hadn’t made any new goals to go along with the new me. I was still holding on to the goals of the scared, abused person years ago. When I really questioned why it was that all of a sudden moving east didn’t feel quite right, when it had been my driving force for so long, was that when I set that goal I my only desire was to hide myself away in the smallest, most remote place I could find where I could sit on the beach and lick my wounds, as it were. And at the time, I needed that solitude, that time to heal and to find myself. If I’d been able to make the move at that time, it would have been the right one. Now, with all the changes I’ve made in my life it doesn’t feel right. And until it does, I’m staying put!

Don’t get me wrong. I still want to move. And getting out of here is still one of the main motivations I have for getting up and working each and every day. I feel like I’ve outgrown this area and my reasons for being here, but have stayed because I was afraid to make the change I wanted. Now, I’m more than ready to embrace the change but I want to make sure that it’s the right change. When I came here years ago, I knew absolutely in my heart, in my soul, and in my head that it was the right thing to do at the time. It was such a good feeling to know that I was in the right place doing what the Universe intended for me to do, and I want that feeling again! I know that this upcoming move (and I have no doubt it will happen before the end of the year) is going to be another life changer for me, and I intend to do it right.

Getting back to my original question of why we hold on to goals that no longer serve us… (sorry I got on a bit of a rant there)

I think that for me, (and I can only speak for myself) it was a security blanket of sorts. The decision to move east was the first goal I set for myself after coming out of years of abuse and not being allowed to have dreams and goals of my own. I wanted to go as far away from here as I could get, and start completely over in a place of my own choosing.

Even after I started to build up my self-confidence and live again, I hung on to that goal because it was still the one thing I had that was truly mine. Although I was questioning the rightness of it, I brushed the uneasy feeling aside and wrote them off as self-sabotage. It really wasn’t until I was talking with a friend about it the other day, and I accepted her assertion that I’ve been putting way too much pressure on myself to do this now, that I really started to rethink my plans. I needed to hear that message that the right thing to do will make itself known at the right time again. After all, listening to that little voice is what got me to where I am now.

What I’ve learned through all this is that it really is okay to change your plans. Letting go of old goals that no longer fit you is really freeing. There are so many options out there that open up for you, and each time you make a change more doors open. Sure, some close too, that’s part of life. But when you accept that you yourself have changed enough that your old goals no longer fit, and you allow yourself to consider new possibilities, you will be amazed at they way things start to flow again. Don’t let fear keep you in the place you’ve worked so hard to get yourself out of. You really do owe it to yourself to embrace new experiences and opportunities that are a better fit with the new you!

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