Remember this...

Try this...

Set a BEING goal

In a world obsessed by achievement and outward measures of success, it is easy to get hyper-focused on doing more. Staying busy. On the go. Until you're stressed out and tired, maybe even a little cranky, and you snap at your child, your spouse, maybe a friend or coworker, or even the grocery store clerk.

I am often that person - driven to achieve, focused on the next big goal. A few years ago, I started setting BEING goals. I wrote down a list of words to describe how I wanted to BE, and how I wanted to show up. Words like “courageous, engaged, generous…” filled the page. Now, instead of going through my to-do list in the morning, I ask myself, who do I want to be today? How do I want to show up? It made a big difference in how I approached certain tasks and opportunities. Instead of obsessing about outcomes or results, I took control of what I could control – how I showed up.

Try setting a being goal:

• Who do you want to be?
• How do you want to show up?

Think about this...

Sometimes being means doing nothing

It is early spring (or late winter, depending on your perspective) and I went for a hike on a trail I’d traveled many times before, but never at this point in the seasonal transition between winter and spring. The grass was matted down from the weight of the snow that had piled on top of it for the last few months. The trees were devoid of leaves—it was too early for even the slightest of green buds. Snow patches and mud bogs were clear signs that winter still had its hold. It wasn’t time for buds and green grass and sprouting flowers.

The pre-spring forest reminded me that being is not stagnant. Life is always changing. The trees are showing up as they are meant to be this time of year—stoic and patient. In a couple of weeks, they will be vibrant green with new leaves.

If you feel like the matted grass, weighed down by some stress or pressure, remember the tree. Sometimes being means doing nothing and simply being patient.

Be who you are and need to be right now.