Soul Goals

“I don’t believe in life after death. I believe in life BEFORE death.“ -Bumper sticker

A few years ago I attended a meditation retreat.

Halfway through the retreat, the instructor led us on a meditation and had us imagine how we would live our lives if we had six months left to live.

I did the meditation expecting to see myself (in my mind’s eye) deeply connecting with my friends and family if I had six months to live.

What I saw instead was me wearing a travel backpack with a huge smile on my face.

It was surprising. And even a little shocking.

Travel is what I would do if I had six months to live? Really?!

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this ‘vision’ I’d had. I had a thriving, booming service-based business with many staff members. I had a ton of coaching clients who I worked with weekly. I had a full life. I couldn’t just up and go abroad for a few months.

Could I?

And yet…

The image of me with a travel backpack kept tugging at me. I tried to shush it away but it kept nipping at my heels.

And I found myself getting really jealous when I’d hear about people taking extended trips abroad. Jealousy is always a sign for me that there is an unmet dream that wants to become reality.

It seemed completely unrealistic for me to stop my businesses for a few months and travel and yet I began to realize that if I didn’t honor this urge from my soul, my businesses would begin to decline as would the quality of my life.

Here’s why: When soul goals are not being met, life stops working. It’s a good thing though as we get forced into looking at what we truly and deeply want to create in this one great life we’ve been gifted.

Once I made the decision to honor my soul, things fell into place so magically (as they usually do when our soul goals are being listened to and honored). I created my own Best Year plan with specific and measurable actions to take to achieve my vision of extended travel. Within just a few months after making the decision to travel, I was on a plane to India and then Bali for 4 months. The next year I went away for 8 months. My life has never been the same. Ever.

Soul goals lead us to where we need to be.

Even if (and often especially if) it doesn’t make sense to our rational mind.

Last week I worked with a Best Year Coaching client who has the soul goal of moving back to the state she grew up in. She has had a challenging time making connections with people in the state where she currently lives and she desperately misses her friends and family from her hometown. So we created a goal of her being a resident of this particular town where she wants to move. And we set up tangible, specific and measurable actions that will support that goal and get her to be a resident of that town by the first quarter of next year.

Is she scared? You betcha. She has a thriving business where she’s currently living. Moving means that she’ll be letting go of what she perceives as security and she’ll be taking the leap of faith toward what has heart and meaning for her. And yet, when we go for what has heart and meaning (our soul goals) we succeed in ways we can’t even imagine now. Life reaches out to support us in ways we can’t even imagine. I’ve seen it happen over and over in my own life. I’ve seen it happen over and over in the lives of those I work with.

Another woman that I worked with a few days ago spoke of a soul goal of being a mom. And yet she’s scared of taking on the role of motherhood by getting pregnant right now. So she and her husband are going to become foster parents as a way to explore what being a parent will feel like. We put being a foster parent on her Best Year plan. Was she scared when we put it on? Absolutely. Is she willing? Yes. Motherhood is tugging at her heart strings and she wants and needs to explore what that will be like in a way that works best for her.

If you have a soul goal for 2013–and even perhaps one that may seem daunting to fulfill (starting a business, starting a family, getting out of debt, travel for an extended period of time, writing a book, etc), I’m ready to work with you to turn your dreams into reality. This process works if you work it. Prepare to be amazed.

Click to find out more and to create your best 2013 by signing up for the Best Year Coaching Starter Package.