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Lofty Inspiration: You Don’t Have to Climb Everest to Propel Your Soul to New Heights. Try this “Top of the Mountain Goal-setting” Technique and Get on the Path to Your True Purpose in Life. AT THE AGE OF 19, a goal-setting method was taught to me by one of my spiritual mentors. I attribute my greatest successes in health, happiness and even living in beautiful places like Maui and Sedona, Arizona, to this method. I call it, “Top of the Mountain Goal Setting.” The method works for me because I have a strong, romantic, whimsical nature that enhances my creativity and balances my “just do what you said now” pragmatic side. Plus, I've spent years engaged in deep spiritual practices. Of course, I also practice more traditional methods of goal setting, but for those of you, like me, with a quirky, spiritual nature that you want to balance with grounded, practical steps, stay with me. To engage in the “Top Of the Mountain Goal Setting” method, you must first know that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience – not the other way around. As a spiritual being, your true nature, which some call soul, is luminous, pure and communicates with you and transmits ideas, inspirations, thoughts and feelings so you can bring them forth into the physical world. Famous writers, inventors, scientists, artists, and healers have written on divine inspiration. For some, these inspirations come in dreams, or after a deep meditation or these special insights may come while wide awake and working on a project. What this has to do with goal setting was made crystal clear to me by a diagram my mentor, Tom Flamma, sketched out in about 2 minutes. THE FOUR ESSENTIAL "TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN GOAL SETTING” STEPS: 1. Become aware of your true spiritual nature and engage in practices to amplify and clarify the communication from your true self. It's like dialing into a radio station and getting close enough to the transmitting station to hear the signal correctly. 2. Focus on setting a goal and see if you can state it in language that makes you feel alive, buoyant and spacious – and test it for three days to see if this is just a passing whim or an authentic, empowered goal. 3. Evaluate the feeling of naturalness related to accomplishing the goal. 4. Correct Course and practice setting goals until this becomes a happy, healthy habit. “Having a clear, discerning intellect and a desire to be heroic is essential in this goal-setting process,” said Flamma. Being heroic is expressed in hundreds of large and small ways and the qualities of the true self – wisdom, compassion, courage, conviction – shine through our acts of heroism. THE POWER OF THE SOUL The soul at the top of the mountain is communicating with the physical self, via thought and these thoughts can be felt within the body. That's where feeling comes into play in a really big way. Our feelings have the potential to guide us away from setting goals that could be unsuitable for us or harmful to humanity – and guide us toward setting goals that will resonate our spirituality. The power of the soul is radiating love and positive energy – even if slumbering. Those positive emanations send signals to the brain and body that help stabilize us as we begin to take action in working toward our goals. Often, we push so hard on a goal, it is like trying to force a chain up a mountain. The result is that it just falls to the ground with a disappointing thud. Practicing meditation, prayer and other methods to amplify the spiritual emanations helps increase our ability to achieve goals. This amplification grows as we grow in wisdom, discernment and loving-kindness When we feel light, spacious and open, this may be an indication that the goal we are thinking about is a good one to pursue. Our feelings can guide us, but remember the more detours we have taken to an out-of-balance lifestyle, the more we need to be aware that our emotions can drive us to unhealthy choices. As you look at the first page image, you see the true self connected with the Creator and the angelic realms at the top of the mountain. However, the true self may be slumbering (similar to being drunk or drugged) and not aware of its connection to the Creator. This slumbering state is all too real for many people. That's why engaging in prayer, meditation and deeper spiritual practices is important – to awaken the slumbering soul. The complexity here involves religious customs and mandates and the wars about what it takes to awaken the soul. It's possible to spend years debating who is awake and divinely inspired, and who is delusional and leading people to hell. Although I've explored that topic in depth for 30 years, and we cannot cover it effectively now, I owe it to you to share my guideline on this: “By their fruits, you shall know them.” That means that based upon what a person (or group) is bringing into the world, the hand and guidance of the Creator is evident (or absent). There are dozens of men who have made millions of dollars pedaling a message of “How to be in touch with the Divine,” while using their charm to seduce women. Obviously the women need to become much more discerning, but the fruits of these divinely inspired offerings should be viewed with a clear mind. So, assuming that you are clear, and not in a romance-trance, the next challenge is to evaluate your mental and emotional state as you approach your goal. Some of us naturally have a nature inclined toward healthy self-examination. Others need to learn this skill so that their introspection does not become toxic and overly critical. Having beginner's mind is the ideal state where you are open, optimistic and confident that your guidance system is going to be tested and put to use. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE The big question everyone asks is, How long will it take for my goal to come true? The time it takes for the goal to manifest is directly proportional to the feeling of naturalness. This is a metaphysical principle and best used by those who have studied the basics of vibration and metaphysics. Essentially, the more frustrated and upset we are about what we want, the more we can cause delays in bringing about lasting positive results. Oh sure, we can manipulate and push things through to completion, especially if there is enough money and a big enough crowd helping us, but the habits of control, domination and manipulation do not lead to health or happiness.. Where do we find the feeling of naturalness? Think about where your car is parked now. Maybe it is in your garage or somewhere close. Now think about how natural it feels as you walk to your car that it will be where you parked it. Unless you live in a terribly dangerous neighborhood, your feeling about the car being there for you is so relaxed, you don't give it any conscious attention. That's an extreme example of the feeling of naturalness – complete acceptance and not an ounce of worry or concern. For many of us, our minds have been invaded by dangers, so our tendency to worry and feel tense is deeply conditioned. The process of undoing this habit of worry requires skill and devotion and usually requires help from a support person who can help us heal. This is essential to understand while setting your goals. Here's an example of the absence of feeling of naturalness. About 10 years ago, two women who owned a fitness studio in San Diego asked my help to set goals so they could have a successful business, help more people and make a profit. On the surface, this seemed like a positive goal aligned with their highest good. They knew how to meditate and pray, and they ate better than most. They were compassionate. Plus, they were smart with the financials and had a great location. They seemed ready for success. However, as we explored their goal, both partners admitted they were filled with frustration and resentment about working to build the business. They totally lacked the desire to recapture their optimism. There was a long list of personal issues depleting their vitality. It became apparent why their business was failing. Fortunately, they sold the business to someone who was filled with enthusiasm and a solid plan to grow the business. For the new owner, the feeling of naturalness about succeeding was sincere. A heroic story of the feeling of naturalness in achieving a major goal was shared by best- selling author and fitness celebrity Callan Pinckney. Callan focused for weeks and months, prior to her success, practicing visualization exercises on setting forth positive images and making positive affirmations, until she could feel her success when she went to bed and each morning when she awoke. She completely integrated the feeling of naturalness into her goal setting. Between 1986 and 1989, she sold more than 1 million books, and then went on to sell 7 million exercise videos. And millions of women learned to exercise in a safe way, learning to listen to their bodies. |
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