As a youngster, I dreaded the word ‘Goals’. Goals created anxiety in my mind. It meant having to take responsibility, work to a deadline, be evaluated and most importantly not have the freedom to do what one felt like in the moment. After all it is easier to meander aimlessly through life.

We all know how it feels during the week with the burden of things to be done. We wait eagerly for the weekend so we can just let the days pass in the act of indulging in things that we love to do.

However much as we may enjoy the weekends, the pain of not doing what we intrinsically know as important to our existence keeps re-surfacing.

So fundamentally staying on top of our priorities invariably would bring much less pain.

When that realisation dawns, we make lists with all intention of staying true to those lists. But then those very lists become our source of discontent for the discipline to stay with those lists eludes us.

And so the cycle continues.

The only way to overcome this cycle is getting rid of our attachments and aversions. Not completely like an enlightened soul would, but at least to the extent they don’t rule our lives.

Sri Sri Ravishankarji says that unless we can be 100% in any activity whether we like it or not, we cannot be truly happy. As otherwise, our mind gets an excuse to get stuck to the past through regret.

I have personally found that my weekends are neither as aimless as they would be in the past creating a guilt factor for wasted time nor are my weekdays so full of drudgery that I wait for the weekend.

This ability to enjoy whatever I am doing comes out of the practice of Yoga, Meditation & Present Moment Awareness. Over time I have found that my priorities don’t weigh me down, as, even if an activity is not very exciting, I can bring the mental discipline and forbearance to stay with the activity that needs doing.

Ultimately it is not the setting of goals that is important because goals are after all temporary, but it is the change of our behaviour that takes us home. It is our behaviour that creates a lasting impression and not the goal itself.

Our behaviour every moment is shaped by our attitude and emotions. If we have a way to lift our spirit every day, our emotions are in our control and our behaviours then take us where we want to go!

Ultimately this is a personal journey. There are many who achieved a lot in their lives without a moment of self-awaraness. But could I have gotten where I am today the same way? Absolutely not! So don’t compare.

Here is a talk by Sri Sri Ravishankar on Goals (from 1 minute onwards) https://youtu.be/afWpfz_YSLI

Upcoming Courses

1. Sri Sri Yoga Level 1

2. Happiness Program July 14-17