Goal Setting With The Changing Seasons

Seasons Change our Perspectives

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more I enjoy the shift from summer to fall. Maybe it’s because of the season of my life, or maybe I’m just ready to curl up in my sweater, leggings and booties while reading a great book in front of the fireplace. It’s a time for slowing down, going within and nurturing.

The seasons reflect more than a change in the weather. The earth has shifted on its axis, changing the direction and amount of light. The length of the day changes, and animals begin to hibernate or awaken from their winters sleep. Fall is a particularly fascinating time where the earth has its equinox and the northern and southern hemispheres are aligned on the earth’s axis. Seasons are nature’s way of recalibrating and are also a great time to shift your mind and set goals – both short and long term.

While we’re taking some time enjoying the crisp air and a hot pumpkin spice latte (eggnog latte, in my case), we can use this new energy to procure a renewed sense of motivation. Just as the trees shed their leaves in preparation for spring ahead, we can use this time to shed old habits and prepare for the not-so-distant future. For many of us, life is go-go-go and we often feel as though we’re watching from the sidelines as it passes us by. Be sure to take a breath and slow down – really appreciate all things around you. The crisp fresh air is indicative of the fresh start you owe yourself.

Mindful breathing is a basic, yet incredibly powerful form of meditation.

It is one of the greatest tools we have available at our disposal. It allows us to go inward and anchor into our center, while also harnessing choosing how and where to direct our energy. Just like the colorful fall leaves, there is an abundance of beauty in each moment surrounding us – it’s just a matter of learning to slow down and be present. Take a deep breath and think of three things you are grateful for, right in this moment. Perhaps it is good friends. Maybe laughter. Or the warmth of sunshine on your skin. Notice the calming effect this simple exercise has on your body and mind.

During the fall season we’re being asked to wind down.

Retreat inward and shed anything that restricts our growth. Shifting the conversation inward invites us to self-reflect and take inventory of what we want to achieve. What is it that you want to achieve? Ask yourself these questions or, better yet, use them as journal prompts and see what comes through:

Where do I want to get to?
How will I get there?
What’s holding me back?
What’s the purpose of my goal?
What would my life look like if I achieved my goal?

Questions hold power.

They spur creativity and they also get us thinking about things more deeply. Personally, I like to light a candle, get comfortable and journal. Journaling helps me to gain clarity and aligns me with what’s really going on inside. Jotting down our thoughts, dreams, goals, hopes, and wishes as if they’ve already happened, is a way to memorialize our feelings. Getting it out of our mind and onto paper is where we begin to bring it into being.

“A simple meditation – just about five minutes of your time – can clear your headspace and create a mindset of confidence and success”. – Hanna Hermanson

Meditation techniques influence our energy, mindset and emotions greatly.

Combining vivid details from your journal with imagery is a powerful way to train the mind to go after (and succeed) in getting what you most desire. Meditation is a powerful way to gain clarity while removing clutter to create an open space for new ideas. This open space will allow you to move forward and accomplish what you envision for you future. Seeing is believing – and believing is also seeing.

Need some quick and easy instructions on how to meditate on your goal? I got you.

First, be sure to minimize distractions. Silence your phone. Get cozy. Journey inward. Visualize your success.

Begin by inhaling slowly and deeply through the nose and exhaling with equal depth out of the nose. Allow the eyes to gently close as you find your center and feel your body arrive into a tranquil state. Center your awareness around an area of your life where you have been struggling or would like to experience transformation.

Now, think about why this goal is important to you. How will achieving this goal add value to your life? Allow yourself to get lost in your wildest aspirations. In granular detail visualize your success as if it has already happened and you are bearing the fruits of your labor. Notice how you feel and what you see having accomplished this goal. What are you wearing? Take note of your surroundings; who is with you? What do you smell? Stay in the moment and absorb, and digest, as many details as you can. Create a vision that feels genuine and as compelling as possible.

Next, take a deep inhale and as you exhale, use your breath to invigorate and strengthen your vision. Charge your aspirations with positive energy and intentionally breathe them into life. Do this as many times as you feel fit. Our breath is what animates and energizes us and the reality we create.

When you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and sit quietly in stillness. Allow the stillness and silence from your meditation to permeate you entirely, and notice any sensations, images, feelings or thoughts running through you. Just allow yourself to steep in it for a few breaths.

Lastly, revisit your journal. Write in detail about your vision, what you experienced during meditation and any new ideas or discoveries that may have come up for you. Take note of the steps you will need to make and goals that need to be met in order to make your vision a reality. Create a prioritized list of your goals. Set start and end dates for them. Next, jot down the action steps, support structures, and practices that will support you in successfully reaching your goals.

By setting goals and following through with them you are not only making a commitment to yourself, but you are making an investment in yourself.

You might not believe in magic, but there is power in mindful intention. Meditation is a powerful way to gain clarity and mental prosperity. If you’re committed to accomplishing a goal, fall is an opportune time to reset and refocus. Journal to capture your wins and enjoy the process. If you can find joy in the journey, you’ve already won.

Tris Thorp

An International Bestselling Author, Lifestyle and Leadership Coach and speaker, Tris Thorp is one of today’s leading experts in the field of personal growth and leadership development, specializing in emotional healing, women’s empowerment and shadow work.

Having spent a decade traveling the world, being trained by and sharing the stage with Dr. Deepak Chopra in the field of social emotional learning, consciousness and mindfulness-based practices, Tris has a real gift for integrating the ancient spiritual teachings with modern-day science and mindfulness to help people all over the world let go of their past and create an empowered new future.

During her tenure at the Chopra Center, Tris apprenticed under the Chopra Center’s co-founder Dr. David Simon, co-facilitating the Healing the Heart and Emotional Freedom workshops alongside him. Prior to his passing in 2012, Dr. Simon appointed Tris as the person to carry on his teachings in the field of emotional healing. In addition, Tris was fortunate to be mentored by the late Debbie Ford prior to her passing in 2013, which is where she continued her extensive studies of the unconscious mind and concepts of the persona and shadow. After the loss of her two mentors, Tris went on to become certified through the Ford Institute as a coach specializing in Shadow Work and reconciling mental and emotional issues stemming from past experiences. She continues to share the gifts of emotional healing and facilitating this work in the footsteps of her former mentors.

Tris is the International bestselling author of Healing Your Heart: Rewrite Your Story with Awareness and Intention. A guide book to understanding your emotions, how we create our story and workable tools and techniques to heal from the past, Healing Your Heart stewards you through the process of releasing mental and emotional baggage, forgiving yourself and others, setting and enforcing boundaries and consciously communicating your needs in a loving and effective way so you can be who you’re meant to be, do the things you want to do and have all that you deserve to have in this life.

Tris is also the co-author of bestseller Mental and Emotional Release® with Dr. Matt James. Written in a language both professionals and non-professionals can understand, Mental and Emotional Release® offers real life case studies, an overview of MER and its foundation, step by step scripts to follow, and clinical efficacy studies comparing MER to other therapies.

Clearly in her dharma, Tris’s passion and dedication to gently guide people on their inward journey through personal growth is evident in her work as a Lifestyle and Leadership coach, Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release and workshop facilitator. She teaches various courses on leadership development, personal empowerment, social emotional learning and higher states of consciousness – both in online courses and her certification programs, live workshops, VIP retreats and 1-1 clients.

Tris Thorp is Board Certified by the Association of Integrative Psychology as a Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release ®, Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, and Mental and Emotional Release ®, a Certified Reiki Master, and an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance.

Tris is devoted to inspiring and empowering others to cultivate and maintain mindfulness-based lifestyle practices that lead to greater clarity, purpose and fulfillment. Through one-on-one coaching, online programs and live events, Tris specializes in helping people to fully release negative emotions, limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns, enabling them to make quantum leaps into the life they are truly meant to be living.