We are often goal-oriented. It gives us a sense of tangibility. Either you love or hate your “to do” list. Either you have one, or you don’t.

Can we confuse purpose with goals? Can one feed the other? Detract? Distract?

These are often the kinds of questions I marinate throughout the week.

Again, nothing is linear really, is it? A goal could reveal a purpose, a purpose could reveal a goal.

So, where do you begin?

Purpose and goal can work in tandem. However, if the goal steps forward and you lose sight of your purpose, it’s a bit like trying to move around in a dark room, or on a road where you don’t have cell service and your maps don’t work.

Set your goals - specific or general - but DIRECT them with purpose. What is the REASON. What is the WHY.

Your purpose is your why. What you DO with that why can illuminate the goals that have gravitas, specificity & focus as you move INTO your purpose.

If you have specific goals, ask why. Why that? What does it reveal? What does it represent for you? How is it serving your purpose?

If you don’t have specific goals, ask why. What not? What does that reveal about your purpose? Is it time to delve into a deeper sense of self to reveal that purpose more thoroughly?

And guess what? Both your purpose AND your goals can morph, change, evolve.

NOTHING is in stone. Why you do what you do can be re-imagined, re-discovered, re-evaluated.

Take a look at the purpose, and make it personal. MY purpose is:…..

THE goals that REVEAL MY purpose COULD be:…..

The glue that keeps the perspective is always remaining present. Staying present gives you permission to make adjustments, and not get lost in the “to-do” list; to not beat yourself up because you haven’t “achieved” a benchmark you had held up as a marker for yourself, or not realizing that maybe that benchmark wasn’t yours but imposed on you from elsewhere.

This time allows you grace. Take it, and re-invent whatever you need to embody your purpose and your goals.

With Fondness & Fierceness,