Are you on track to reach your personal and professional goals?

One-third the way through 2018 is a good time to check in with goals inspired by January 1^st. An honest assessment of where you are right now can be boosted by a look back into your personal history. In a society in which one is encouraged to look ahead, move forward, set the bar higher, plan for tomorrow, it is also helpful to underpin expectations with snapshots of past performance and recognize possibilities.

In the short term, looking back to January 1^st is one step. This year I posted each client’s goal on my waiting room bulletin board. Some goals are specific and some are general but already many have been met: my skier has exceeded his goal of 90 days of skiing, my yoga wannabe has included more yoga classes, others are noting measurable changes in fitness, and others have begun to anticipate summer activities. Some have just plain forgotten….

Then there is another aspect of goals – often they assume new shape and new purpose. That’s ok too. Simply making a goal helps to focus on what is both desirable and important at a particular time of one’s life. Doing nothing is simply not a good idea.

There is much to be said about the present, acknowledging the moment, neither mired in the past nor wishing for the future. However, there is value to considering history. On a micro level, remember the 5k you ran at Thanksgiving or the mountain trail or century ride you completed last July. Looking back a little farther remember the journey through a rehab, recovery from childbirth, or time away from your regularly scheduled fitness practice. In each event, despite struggles or disappointments, you made it. And you carry with you the nugget of knowing that you did!

Lessons learned from the past are certainly helpful building blocks for the present and future; but perhaps even more significantly, the emotional and intellectual gems are what need to be treasured and revisited.

Nothing marks time like the growth of a child or pet. But there are signs of growth all around each day. Perhaps it is simply a sign of approaching spring.

Perhaps it is the physical ability to dig a little deeper or stretch a little farther or lift a little more. Perhaps it is the spark of purpose that ignites new goals or broader horizons for the days, weeks and months ahead. The key is to acknowledge growth and to gain courage from it.

Of course it is imperative to be thankful for what you have right now, but it is also imperative to know that what you currently manifest is organic. While energy seems to ebb and flow like the tides, it is alive and as much a part of our being as our bones and muscles.

Yesterday in a yoga class we practiced quite a few twists. Our teacher reminded us that in Ayurveda, spring is the season of Kapha – of earth and water. (Mud season?!) So we practiced twists to stir up the sluggishness that Kapha signals. What a great metaphor for daily life when twists and turns force departure from planned paths and schedules. How many times have you noted that “things worked out for the best” or that some better way resulted?

Was it Einstein or Mark Twain or someone else who said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”? This is an often overworked quote but oh so true. Once again history plays a part.

Bottom line here? Use past experience to support present actions, and guide and sustain the future? I don’t know what will work for you, but today is a good day to pause to revisit your goals then move forward with gratitude for what is past and hopeful enthusiasm for what is yet to come, while savoring what is.