I don’t do goal-setting and I don’t have a to-do list. I get unbelievable amounts of stuff done, because I love what I do. Motivation comes from the inside, and if that motivation isn’t there … well … we may be trying to apply ourselves in a “reasonable” way rather than following our hearts.

Blessings,
Andrea

You have hit on a very important premise about reaching your dreams, desires and goals in life, ultimately finding joy and fulfillment.

I have discovered the very same things in my life…the importance of working from inner resources, instead of depending on the outer resources.

For two years, I have struggled with getting my writing career off the ground…investing in all the key components that all the top internet marketers, writers, speakers, coaches are touting on the web. In the end, I have tons of DVD’s, CD’s, books connections that I have little time to look at, let alone use. Let’s not even talk about the time to actually write my book or blog…do what my heart truly loves and wants to do.

It was after a weekend long intense bootcamp on branding and writing where a top writer and speaker took my ideas and totally reworked everything to the point that I didn’t recognize it that I realized I had to stop accumulating outside resources. The Monday following this intense weekend I woke up so angry…enraged…I tried to work on the “new plan” she had devised for me…I HATED IT! The more I worked…the more I got angry and realized that I would NEVER be able to continue on this path…it was someone elses created plan for me…it was coming from the outside-in…not from my inner desires, talents and gifts…I knew it was doomed to fail…I would procrastinate, become distracted…it would become “work”…not a joy or passion of my life. I immediately went back to what my gut and my heart was telling me to do. I stopped buying every product that came down the pike and chose one of the programs I already had that would help me the most. I chose to work from my passion and what God was leading me to do, instead of outside formulas that had worked for everyone else.

Now,don’t misunderstand…I haven’t thrown all the advice, ideas and plans in the toilet…by no means…I have carefully picked and chosen tidbits here and there…added or continued the one’s that work…temporarily put some on the shelf for when I need them…subtracted the one’s that don’t fit my way of getting things done.

It is a process…an adventure…it helps me grow.

The bottom line is that when you work from your inner resources…the one’s that God placed in you from the beginning, instead of being influenced by all the outer resources…it is in that moment you will discover everything clicks, falls in to place…it works!

Thank you for this blog post…it was extremely affirming.

Weaning oneself off of productivity systems is a tricky business during this switch. Unless you have the luxury or ability to freeze-frame life to make the switch, there’s till going to be the need to take care of external stuff as your building your internal reserves. That’s the conflict that I’m in now, at any point: the fire from within is fully burning, but the residue of the old external life is still pressing.

Keep up the great work!

I agree whole heartedly with the inside-out approach to achieving our goals. For years I lived my life outside-in, not in the sense that I was chasing materialism or other people’s dreams, but I was stuck on the idea that I had to find out who I was and what I wanted, and I had to make it happen now, now now!

Having my son really clashed with this lifestyle and this ended up being a great thing for me because eventually I had to admit I couldn’t keep up the same pace as before, and all this chasing of goals wasn’t making me happy anyway. Not like cuddles on the sofa with my son.

I came to see that I had spent the past 18 years regimenting my life to achieve something down the track. There was not enough joy and gratitude for the simple things in life.

Doing more is not all that life is about. And getting too caught up with productivity systems can turn into just another treadmill of action all designed to get you somewhere one day, rather than just enjoying where you are now.

I’m not saying goals or action is a bad thing, but it’s not the only thing, especially if you want to feel happy and content today. We need down time too so there’s a lot to be said for learning how to just BE instead of DO. Then when you are taking action to reach your goals, it will be with a vigour you previously were incapable of.

Just my 10 cents worth. Love your blog by the way. I think I’ve only been lurking so far.
:) Kelly

Just my 10 cents worth. Love your blog by the way. Think I’ve just been lurking so far.
:) Kelly