Each week in The Wisdom of Change blog series, I share the original artwork and unpack the insights and meaning behind one of the 44 cards in The Wisdom of Change oracle deck.
Let me back up a little.
I’d been encouraged during my coach training to set some goals for myself – you can’t hit a target you cannot see and all that. I’d resisted this fundamental goal setting process for quite some time, and I wasn’t sure why. It’s a story for another time, but in a nutshell, I realised that I didn’t want to set goals in case I didn’t reach them (and then I’d effectively set myself up for disappointment) – no thanks!
Once I’d pushed past all this and realised that goals are simply a ‘road map’; a direction of travel if you will, I got more comfortable with the process. I aligned myself to a goal setting approach that permitted me to move my target or alter my path in the light of new information or a change of heart. This felt much better and I stepped boldly into goal setting and visualising the changes in life that I wanted to manifest. I got quite a lot achieved and learnt a good deal about myself along the way. Then, as so often happens on the path of profound personal change, my ‘wins’ became fewer and further between until my achievements ran out of momentum and the change process I was seeking seemed to grind to an infuriating halt.
What a buzz kill!
When you embark on a change journey, the temptation to assume that you’ve run out of potential, talent or wherewithal is ever present; it’s the unendingly unfunny joke that that ego nonetheless thinks is utterly hilarious. Sulking around for a while in my newfound state of inertia, with no further ideas immediately evident, I was at a loss as to what to do next. I may have been discussing this with one of the coaches I was training with, or maybe I read it somewhere, I can’t quite recall, but I stumbled across the idea that if you are not making progress towards your hearts desires, you need to go bigger!
A goal should always be that little bit scary so as to become compelling once more.
I was reminded of something that I had learnt through my passion for horses. Apparently if you ask a top-level show jumping horse to jump a fence that is too small, it may well refuse to jump, or make a complete hash of it. It’s as if it doesn’t even register it as a jump; their blood is not up, their attention is not engaged, and they are not captivated by the task. The result; the fence doesn’t get cleared and worse still, they may even cause injury to themselves or their rider.
A light went on!
What if I’d outgrown my targets?
What if I’d made sufficient progress to warrant a much bigger aim?
I noticed the tell-tale signs that I was onto something; a tingly, excited feeling bubbling up inside and giving me that all important ‘fuel in the tank’ to get back into action. That was it; I’d unintentionally bored myself by my own goal! I dared myself to feel into how much bigger my desires needed to be to feel exciting once more. This revealed that I was ready for an entirely new upgrade in my expectations; a complete up levelling as to what I believed was possible for me.
I got my buzz back instantly!
So, if you find yourself a bit bored, flat or stuck in relation to achieving your goals, go bigger! Try doubling your expectations and see how that feels. Try halving your timeline to see if that jazzes things up a little. Check in with your inner wisdom to see if the whole thing needs re-working; have you completely outgrown your current situation or the goals you set yourself some time ago? Sometimes our goals become obsolete without us noticing. Once you bring this back to your conscious attention, you put yourself back in the driving seat.
Have fun with your upgrade and I’d love to know how you get on.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s connection to your inner wisdom.
As always, I’d love to hear your comments below.
If you’d like to learn more about The Wisdom of Change oracle deck you can find out more here.
If you'd like to find out more about a Wisdom of Change reading with Wendy please click here.