Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment.-Tony Robbins

Recently, I came to the conclusion that whatever I was doing to get myself moving toward a more prosperous future just wasn’t working very well. It felt stale, stuck and boring and my heart just wasn’t into this path I was taking. Reconsideration was in order; back to the drawing board, so to speak because I needed to rethink this plan that kept falling apart at the seams. I felt that it was taking more energy to keep focused than I had at the moment.

I bought a Passion Planner mid-year. I figured I could write out maybe three things a day I could focus on to feel like I was accomplishing something…anything. This year so far, forward movement has been slow and sticky, like walking through jello. At this point, my job feels like a marriage gone bad: not good enough to stay but not bad enough to leave.

The Passion Planner asks us to consider our goals. I’ve done this before, goal setting that is, but decided I may need an upgrade in this subject to get perhaps a fresh perspective. We can all stand to learn something new even on old subjects like goal setting. I turned to Youtube to see what might be new or interesting out there.

Sure enough, Vishen Lakhiani of Mind Valley had given a short 30-minute talk on revisiting goal-setting from a completely different perspective. Instead of, “I want to do this, then that, then this to accomplish X”, he has us bypass all the means to an end and just focus on the end itself. By focusing on the end or ultimate goal, we open ourselves up to other creative means rather than what we think will get us there or what we’ve told will get us there.

He asks us to consider three things when considering goals:

• What Experiences do we want to have?
• What are we doing to grow personally and spiritually?
• What do we want to contribute to the world?

The soul needs two things to be fulfilled: growth and contribution. By focusing on how we wish to grow and what we wish to contribute, we will discover the experiences we want to have. By focusing on the experiences we want to have, we will, in turn, determine how we grow personally and what we contribute. It’s a feedback loop wherein each enhances the others.

This certainly provided a fresh perspective on goal-setting. In fact, this allows us to cast a wider net instead of just trudging the same old worn out path of everyone else. Our desired experiences are going to be way different than anyone else so by its very nature our life takes on a unique aura of individuality and meaning.

It’s very important to heart, soul, and spirit that we grow beyond the confines of conventional “wisdom” and well, conventional anything. Expanding our minds, our consciousness, our awareness; looking deeper within, discovering who we really are outside of what others want us to be, is the ticket to personal happiness and fulfillment.

The same goes for contribution. Whatever great or small thing we can do to make the world a better place will leave us better fulfilled as a human being that all the cars, houses and material crap that’s offered as a shallow substitute for achievement.

I’m going to add one more thing to this exercise: and that’s a gratitude list. What is it that we are grateful for? Even blue sky, sunshine and fresh water count here. Being on this side of the dirt, counts. Breathing counts. When we are grateful, really, truly grateful, the Universe will bless us with more miracles and unexpected blessings to be grateful for. This exercise also gives us an opportunity to see where we’ve been and how far we’ve come; to let go of our self-absorption and victim pity-party story in favor of appreciation and thankfulness.

So there you have it. A fresh process to reconsider and reshape our lives. Let’s ask ourselves the following questions:

• What Experiences do I want to have?
• How do I want to grow personally and spiritually?
• What am I contributing to the World?
• What am I grateful for?

I’ve attached Vishen’s talk below so you can watch it yourself. Let me know what you think.