Where Are You Going?
Have you asked yourself where are you going in 2016? Not in regards to travel or vacation but in regards to your life from a personal perspective of your family, health and career? As we move along into January, most everyone has established a resolution, word of the year or goal. Regardless of what perspective you have chosen, I encourage you to ask yourself where are you going on this new path you have chosen. Goal setting and new habits can be wonderful tools but at the core we all need to consider in what direction this journey called life is taking us. Last year, I wrote the piece about existing or living because I was becoming aware of my own habits of going about my day to day life but forgetting to live it. This is a fact of life that we each struggle with at times but we must remember we have the power to stop what can become the dullness of everyday life and exist. I’ve been choosing a word of the year for the past two years and a few months ago the word Direction kept coming to me. As in the past, with my focus upon hello and thrive, this word kept appearing to me in my thoughts, in songs lyrics and almost everywhere I went. After consideration, I easily understood why direction needed to be my word of the year. Although my private practice and career has continued to move along (and it has thrived as I wanted it to in 2015), a difficult fall semester of teaching found me falling into existing and in some ways just keeping my head afloat. Somehow, my practice continued to grow without significant work from me but I wasn’t growing as a clinician and I wanted to do more in regards to speaking and trainings but had no time or energy. Over the past two years, I have been blessed with opportunities in regards to employment as I healed from my grief and reevaluated where I wanted and needed to be. I described the past two and a half years floating. I was keeping my head above water as I worked through the pain and loss but I was not placing much effort into where I wanted to go. The reality is my grief was taking most of my energy until late last fall when the word direction kept showing up. The universe was telling me it was time to refocus my energy and that I was ready. I have had dreams and goals but I was putting limited energy into achieving them for multiple reasons. Life was telling me that 2016 needed to be the year of direction. I needed to know and remind myself where I was going? What was I going to be doing and how was I going to do it? On Friday, I shared the journal exercise of imagining yourself in one year. Write how you would see yourself if you achieved your goals and also write how you would see yourself if you do not achieve your goals. This is a simple exercise of putting forth where one is going. If you do not envision the end result, it can be impossible to get there. [tweetthis twitter_handles=”@how2makealife”]If our life has no direction, we often find we do not like where we are. [/tweetthis] 2016 is the year of direction for me. I must take some time to look at this journey I am on and decide where I am going. After all, I have control of what I do with my career. I have control of the food I eat and the time I exercise and I have control of where I decide to place my energy. Only I can decide where I am going.
Where are you going in 2016? Have you decided how you are going to get there?
I think this is one of the hardest things about goals or anything really! Direction is so hard to find sometimes and I fee like I can just walk around in circles without heading anywhere. Great reminder for the new year!
Oh yes, walking around in circles! I think there have been times in my life when that is all I’ve done and I certainly see it with some of my clients. Our GPS’s in our cars will not take us somewhere if we don’t put in a location – it’s the same with our goals. Have a great week.
Great post and such an important reminder to figure out what you want from life. Thank you! Happy Monday xxx
Thanks Chirssy! I think we all have to stop and ask where we are going sometimes. Hope you have a great week! XOXO
Yes! Living each day with intention – something I’m trying to remember when I wake up. I think that’s why it’s helpful to me to make monthly goals.. because sometimes I don’t know where I’m going or how I’ll get there, but if I just take it one step at a time – I usually get there. Sometimes for me, it takes going through things to figure it “all” out. (Still learning) 😉
Oh aren’t we all still learning!?!? You are so right that it truly does take making smaller goals to achieve what we want. I think we sometimes forget what the larger goal is at times and we need to remind ourselves.
I think about this so much, but in really broad terms. Since the start of the year I’ve really been focusing on where I”m going in 2016 and, even more specifically, where am I going in the next month and throughout the first few months of the year. I know where I’d like to go, but what are the next steps that I need to take to get there right now.
Thanks for this post! It gives us something to think about. 🙂
Thanks Crystal! You make a great point that we really do need to break things down at times in order to reach our goals – and that can be weekly or monthly. We get places one step at a time.
Im still working on figuring it all out. I do my best to live each day to the fullest and make sure that my family knows I love them. My word for the year is push, so I will do just that.
I love your word of the year! I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we do need to push ourselves in order to achieve what we want. As long as you can say you are trying, then you have accomplished something.
So perfect for today. I admit I struggle with this, too. Trying to further my career and finding a new job is my main focus this year… but I don’t want it to outweigh everything else!
I think sometimes we focus so much on balance in our lives that we forget we really want to make changes and changes take energy. Looking forward to seeing what 2016 holds for you.
I can relate to this: I was keeping my head above water as I worked through the pain and loss but I was not placing much effort into where I wanted to go. This year is the year of gumption for me, to reenter life fully.
I can’t wait to see where the year takes you Nina! Sometimes we just need to realize it is ok to float and eventually we develop enough energy to move.
Great post, Sheryl! I’ve been feeling pretty directionless over the past couple of years, but I think my eyes are finally adjusting to the dark. I’m hoping to climb out of this hole this year, and that in and of itself gives me a sense of direction. 🙂
You are so right that we actually gain direction when we decide to make movement. I think you are going to have a great 2016!
It’s such an overwhelming question for me…I have an IDEA of where I’m going and how I’m going to get there but there’s a lot of unknowns. I’m figuring it out piece by piece though!
Oh Katie, I didn’t say it in this post but I”m right there with you! It’s a process and we do have to reevaluate at times where we are going.
I think I always tend to tell myself that I know which direction I am heading but if I were to be honest I think I would have to say that I was truly floundering in the past. I was afloat but treading water. With my word, savor, I think I am taking ownership of that feeling and somewhat embracing it. Not that I want to flounder or stay afloat but I think I was at the same time pushing myself to go in a direction of constant upward and onward and forgetting to savor the points along the way. So if you were yo ask my direction today I would say I am now on a slow and steady pace of moving forward. Gosh…does that make any sense at all??
Oh yes Anne, this makes perfect sense to me. As I said in this post, I look back and realize that I was like you have been and simply floating but truly that was all I had the energy for after all I had gone through. I think you have to realize that floating and keeping your head afloat can be ok at times because you have to. However, I do believe it is easy to fall into the habit of not working towards something. Hoping what I’ve written is making sense! 🙂
Makes perfect sense to me!
Hello from Grateful Heart today… Interesting question for us. 2015 was a good year for the most part. That always leaves me wondering if I am a bit too comfortable to move ahead. I’m not one that enjoys change. I have to sulk a bit before I can embrace it. Still working on where this year is going. Sometimes, staying right where you are if it is working is okay. Your thoughts?
Hi Michelle, I think that sometimes we have to acknowledge that where we are is exactly where we want to be and that may be the case for you. That’s when you spend time being grateful. I do think it’s important to evaluate you current situation and realize that it can’t always stay because life constantly changes.
this is such a wonderful reminder. i didnt set big goals or anything because i feel right now im kinda stuck with my job (long story) but it is always inspiring to hear others journey and see if there is anything i can do to move forward. thank you!!
I hate to hear that you feel stuck. I feel that everyone can relate to that feeling. Maybe you should consider just doing one thing different in your life which could help with the stuck feeling. Changing one thing can make things look different. Thanks for stopping by!
So many times!! I am trying extremely hard to make this a year of intent!!
Being purposeful is important and certainly helps us with our everyday focus.
This summer of teaching in an university setting had me feeling very bogged down and feeling inadequate. My class this fall totally filled my bucket again, but other things were stressful. I used to be so stressed out about planning the future, but then I started just sitting back and looking at the things I actually wanted to do. I feel very blessed because things starting setting in and I started realizing I already knew what I wanted 🙂
I am hosting a monthly goal link up here and this would be a great post to add if you are interested! 🙂
Autumn, it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with things. Many times it does simply take sitting back and just being. Sorry for the delay in responding. I never mean to over look comments.
I hope where I want to be in 2016 is where I’ll end up being, but only I can be the master of my fate. I often feel stuck where I am, not in being a wife or mother but stuck in my job and my position in life and it’s hard to move through that. But like you, I have a goal in mind, that’s more a phrase than just a word, but “move forward.” I want to move forward in life but not just in the traditional sense like get a good job, make money etc. I want to be a better person and I know Kyle and I want to make a better life for Sophie.
liz @ sundays with sophie
I love that you are thinking of “moving forward” I truly believe our words of the year need to push us to look at each day how we can grow and what each decisions can mean for us. sorry for the delay in responding. There were comments that I didn’t receive.
Another wonderful post! I have a word of the year this year for the first time and am still working on writing out goals that includes plans for so many areas of my life. Thank you for sharing this post at Welcome Home Wednesdays Linky!
I hope you’ve been able to write out some of those goals with your word of the year! My apologies for the delay in commenting. Not sure what happened but posts were missed.