How do you want to FEEL? Create goals with SOUL!
December 23, 2014 by Kristen Horner Warren
Filed under Blog
I’m like most people — this time of year I start thinking about what went well in the year past and what I want to do better next year. But if I am honest I have to say that these goals that I’ve set for myself in years past have never amounted to much — within a few weeks my commitment to exercising more, keeping a journal, and not yelling at my kids has fizzled and I’m left feeling discouraged and annoyed with myself.
The Desire Map
The year before last I signed up for a program called the Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte (at the time it was an audio program and pdf document, it has since been published as a book, which I HIGHLY recommend). I have found “desire mapping” to be far more fruitful than simple goal setting and this year I am excited to add a new dimension to the process: PINTEREST!
First, a quote from the book to give you a sense of what Desire Mapping is all about and why it is important:
The Guiding Premise
We have the procedures of achievement upside down. Typically we come up with our to-do lists, our bucket lists, and our strategic plans — all the stuff we want to have, get, accomplish, and experience outside of ourselves. All of those aspirations are being driven by an innate desire to feel a certain way.
So what if, first, we got clear on how we actually wanted to feel within ourselves and then we designed our to-do lists, set our goals, and wrote out our bucket lists?
How do you want to feel when you look at your schedule for the week? When you get dressed in the morning? When you walk through the door of your studio or your office? When you pick up the phone? When you cash the check, accept the award, finish your masterpiece, make the sale, or fall in love?
How do you want to feel?
Knowing how you actually want to feel is the most potent form of clarity that you can have. Generating those feelings is the most powerfully creative thing you can do with your life.
Being the over-thinker that I am, it can take me days to figure out how I actually want to feel. I want to find just the right words and I find it really tough to encapsulate how I want to feel into the 3-5 “core desired feelings” that the book recommends. But I find the process itself illuminating and enjoyable, far more so than just plain old goal setting.
My core desired feelings give me a map for making decisions — big or small
Once I have identified my core desired feelings, when it comes time to make decisions — whether it’s a big change of focus for my business or if my kids can have a slumber party for their birthday this year — I ask myself if what I am considering will take me closer to my core desired feelings or further away from them. It is amazing how much this process clarifies and streamlines decision-making and how much it keeps me in my heart instead of my head (which is a GOOD thing).
This process has taught me — MY FEELINGS ARE THE COMPASS TO MY SOUL.
Pinterest!
Now, onto Pinterest. I am not a huge Pinterest user, but I know several people who have used Pinterest to flesh out their core desired feelings in a visual way and have found it really helpful. I worked on it this past weekend, and I can tell that it is going to add a whole new (and much more vivid) dimension to this process.
My core desired feelings for 2015
My core desired feelings for 2015 are:
- Open-hearted
- Present
- Free
- Spirited
The next step in this process will be to answer these questions about each core desired feeling:
- What will I do in 2015 to feel this way?
- What I will do this week to feel this way?
- What I will stop doing in 2015 to feel this way?
- What is a goal I am focusing on this year?
Please join me
I would love to have you join me in this process! Comment below about how YOU want to feel in 2015 and if you start a Pinterest board post that as well so that I can follow your boards.
Check out my pins and share yours with me
Here are the quotes and photos I’ve pinned to flesh out my core desired feelings.
Follow Kristen’s board 2015: OPEN-HEARTED on Pinterest.Follow Kristen’s board 2015: SPIRITED on Pinterest.
Follow Kristen’s board 2015: FREE on Pinterest.Follow Kristen’s board 2015: PRESENT on Pinterest.
