Spring is the Season--for Setting Goals! Here Are Some Tips

Today, as I am writing this anyway, is March 21st. What is the significance of the date? It is the 2007 Spring Equinox, when days and nights are equal, and soon days will grow longer until the Solstice. It is a day called many things by many cultures, most commonly Ostara by Wiccans who celebrate the Wheel of the Year. For many it is a holy day, a Sabbat, a time for reflection and the dawn of a new beginning. All of this works together to make achieving goals especially easy this season, with so much change and renewing energy around you.

This is a day to reflect upon the past and try to move on, to heal old wounds, and to make changes that will benefit you in the future. It is a time to plant seeds in the ground that you will harvest later, and it is a time to sew into the world what it is you wish to reap. This is a time not only to set goals--but to put a plan into motion to achieve those objections. It is a day to revolutionize your life and change ways of thinking. Achieving goals should be a prerogative, particularly the preparatory part.

It is not just Ostara but this entire season, this whole time of year, that is significant. It is a time of life anew and of rebirth. There is no day but today, and "Carpe Diem!" should be the motive for this season. The healing and rejuvenating powers of nature are in full force, healing the wounds of winter and repopulating the world. We can and should harness that energy to impact our own lives and our own worlds in the way we like. It will help us greatly in achieving goals.

Let us this season reexamine the way we think, feel, and act. Is there a way of thinking that you have that is negatively impacting your life or those of others? Now is the time to change it. Is there a philosophy you have that you're discovering may in fact not be so fitting for your lifestyle? Find a new one. Are you educated about that which you think you understand? Break down your preconceived notions, and build new ones based on fact. If you think you know someone, but have never really talked to them, have a conversation. This is true of groups of people. Make a new friend of a different religion or political party, and build bridges--the paths to compromise.

We all certainly have ways of perceiving things that are inaccurate, and we definitely all have behaviors that we need to change. Don't just start a new diet; change how you eat completely. Start exercising. Stop smoking. Begin the journey to making positive changes in your life. Don't try to jump into anything. Do your research now. Start thinking about it and enlisting the help of others. When you have formulated a plan put it into action. Pay off your debt. Learn how to be thrifty and frugal. Learn better ways of disciplining your children than spanking. This is the season to change who you are and how you interact with those around you. Change for the better.

My goals for this year are to prepare adequately for an unassisted birth this fall, pay off credit card debt, ready my house for sale, stick to our new organic diet and eliminate poisons from our lives, and better my relationships with others. Losing weight would be my goal, but because I am pregnant, hearty and healthy meals are my mark. Limiting my weight gain is a prerogative. I really have five basic goals. I have a few smaller short-term goals, but I'm trying to keep the long-term ones simple and few. Having too many goals will work against you; you can't do everything at once.

My plans are simple. For my birth, I will read, take classes, and learn from others, and I will collect useful equipment. My credit card debt will be paid off, halfway, with our tax return and then with money from a pending insurance settlement, hopefully. We are saving money monthly, by working very hard, to fix up our home. We are slowly eliminating toxins and conventional foods from our diet and our pantry. Improving my relationships is the toughest one, because it isn't tangible. I need to stay in touch with people more, listen more intently and learn not to speak so often, and try to interpret the words of others in the most positive way--instead of assuming the worst. In fact, I need to stop assuming anything.

Simple, small, baby steps towards a goal are going to help you accomplish a lot more than huge leaps. You'll get farther faster with huge leaps, but it's likely to take so much energy that you give it all up very quick. I think that is why most new year's resolutions fail. Do you want to lose weight? Slowly replace one meal and one snack a day with fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Eliminate fried and fatty foods from your diet. Start working out a few minutes every few days, and increase the frequency of those workouts. Start small.

Whatever your goal is, enlisting the support of friends will give you a huge boost in your chances of completing your mission and achieving goals. Studies have shown that people who want to lose weight lose 30% more when they have a support group! Whatever you are giving up, be it alcohol, recreational drugs, or caffiene, there is someone else in the same boat as you who could use your help. Seek them out. You could even just talk to friends, and ask them to encourage you and help you eliminate temptation.

Now is the time for change. If not now, when? Spring is the perfect time of year to create a list of goals and formulate a plot. Birth energy is all around you, and the world is on your side. If you start now, you can have your plans in full motion by the summer, which is the perfect season for "Full Speed Ahead!" with your intentions. Right now, though, you will have the most luck with the small baby steps that young animals all over the world will soon be taking. Running and leaping come later on in the year. Never let yourself doubt that you can do it, because you can!