I so needed to read this!

C o m m i t m e n t

Until one is committed,
there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts
of initiative (and creation)
there is only one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment
one definitely commits oneself,
the Providence moves, too.
All sorts of things occur
to help one that would never
otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events
issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favor all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed
would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do
Or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius,
Power and magic in it.

~ W.H. Murray

The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

EFT

I hesitated about mentioning EFT as part of my goal setting because it sounds very woo woo and in the past I had mixed results with it.

Lately, I've been doing more research (using myself as a guinea pig) and much to my delight I'm starting to see more results, so I'll share this info with anyone who wants to use it to help them achieve their goals, etc.

First of all, it was created by Gary Craig and rather than paraphrase, here's what he says on his site:

"Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body's subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. EFT has been reported successful in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. It often works where nothing else will." ~ http://www.emofree.com/

People use EFT for all kinds of things, including weight loss, fears/phobias, abuse issues, anger, depression, insomnia, achieving goals, etc.

Gary provides free instructions on his site and offers a free newsletter.

There is lots of free info online, including YouTube. I've found the following people to be helpful: Dr. Mercola http://www.mercola.com/forms/eftcourse.htm and Gloria Arenson http://www.gloriaarenson.com/. It really started to come together for me in an intuitive way when I came across Michele Price's site http://successwitheft.com/. She offers free teleclasses (which I haven't participated in yet). I found her to be very supportive when I emailed her.

It's simple to learn, but it can take awhile to get to the roots of your issues. That's why drinkers, for example, will give up drinking and start smoking or eating more.

There are lots of books available. I've so far read The Promise of Energy Psychology by David Feinstein, Donna Eden and Gary Craig. It's good, but I would like it a lot more if it had an index. I started, but haven't yet finished, Gloria Arenson's Five Simple Steps To Emotional Healing. I would like to read Freedom at Your Fingertips: Get Rapid Physical and Emotional Relief with the Breakthrough System of Tapping by Joseph Mercola and Ron Ball. Unfortunately, it's not available in Toronto, so when my cash flow improves I'll likely order it from amazon.com.

Hope this helps!

My goals for 2009 -- Judy

I used to be the queen of setting goals and making lists, but during the last few years I’ve been so overwhelmed with health issues, I’ve been doing my best to deal with immediate concerns like getting to the doctor on time and after recovering from treatments.

I’m still ill and have come to realize that I might never fully recover; it’s not something I’m thrilled about, but I’m too driven to settle for treading water as a way of living, so I need to find solutions to make my dreams come true in a way that will work for me. Setting goals while dealing with my limitations is daunting, but I’m going to give it my best effort because every moment counts. How I spend the moments is my choice. I’m choosing to move forward even if the steps I take are baby steps.

Personal goals
Get more quality sleep – This is by far the most important because years of sleep deprivation is making it more challenging to function.

Stop pushing myself and start listening to my body.

See a doctor about my hand issues this week.

Make time to rest, relax and have fun.

Continue going for walks five to seven days a week, but earlier in the day so I can get more sun (also because it tends to boost my energy and discourage asthma attacks).

Be more consistent with morning yoga sessions. I tend to do it later in the day when I’m running on empty.

My confidence has taken a huge hit with all my health issues and I’ve become very negative. I want to “listen” more to what I tell myself and to use EFT more than once a day to help me stay positive and focused on what I want to achieve instead of allowing my fears to dominate.

Stop being such a perfectionist. Set deadlines and then move on!!!

Spiritual
Be more consistent with morning meditation sessions to set the tone for the next 24 hours. (I tend to do it later in the day.)

Home
Prepare earlier dinners (a challenge since my partner doesn’t come home from work until after 7 and sometimes not until 8).

Get rid of the clutter and organize our home – especially my office area – taking 15 minutes a day to do this.

Finances/Career
Do more with my photography with the goal of collecting enough material for a book idea. (I met my first deadline with getting my photo blog seriously amused up and running again last week.)

Get organized so I can start my Reiki business (I met my first goal for this on the weekend when I bought two phones to replace our old, crotchety ones)... still working on my business cards.

Start making money again with my writing. Not enthusiastic about doing journalism or PR as I’ve done in the past, but am thinking of sending out one short story a month to start (this is very scary for me). I also need to set regular time every day for writing. I allow everything else to take over.

When I start making money, it’s time to get back into the habit of saving 10 percent of my income and donating another 10 percent or instead donating my time with free Reiki sessions.

Relationships
Get in touch with friends I haven’t seen or talked to in ages.

Have a “date” once a week with my partner where it’s all about having fun.

Learn to be a more effective listener.