When someone tells me to write down some of my goals it can throw me off for the day.

I asked myself before starting this article: What is it about that word ‘goal’ that has always made me feel a bit squirmy?

Does this word have similar effects on you? Let’s have a little think about it shall we? Let’s disperse the serious, often negative impact of this cumbersome word.

My goal today was to simply start writing something. I took my first step and opened my laptop then typed the title. First things first!

I investigated the general ideas on the web about goal setting. I looked up the definition. I listened to my spiritual, meditation teacher, Kamlesh Patel, author of “The Heartfulness Way” and he got me thinking about a very basic goal setting scenario.

Imagine you really wanted to visit a friend in a big city, but you had no idea where they lived. Before leaving, you looked up their address and planned on taking first a train, then a bus, and then you walked the rest of the distance to their house.

You met your friend and had tea and a good old chat. It did take some effort to get there but it came naturally to you because you had a singular goal, and that made your path smoother knowing precisely where you wanted to go.

The goal was achieved!

You may not have seen this as a goal originally or been aware of yourself setting it because it’s something you do so frequently in everyday life.

If we start to think of our bigger, grander, life changing goals as a series of steps like this friendly visit, we may feel less stressed about the concept of goal setting and be more inclined to make some really fantastic ones.

When we are committed to something and start in the right direction, we are meeting our goals every day.

Here are some easy questions you may want to ask yourself and write down. Do not just let them float around in your mind. This is very important. Writing is an action and can be very powerful:

• What do you wish to accomplish or attain now and/or in the future?
• What would it mean to you and how will you feel when this goal has been met?
• Ask yourself what you are committed to and how determined you are to meet that goal?
• Ask yourself what the first step would be, then plan on taking that step.

Keep it simple and achievable, that way the path will appear as you take each step toward your goal.

When driving in the dark, your car’s headlights reveal the road you are traveling on at 70 miles an hour for only about 200 feet ahead. Most of us know and trust that the rest of the road is there, even though we literally cannot see it. One can drive from New York to California trusting the road will be there every mile. Life can be like that sometimes.

Goals are not always how we think of them. They are not always objectives.

Scoring a soccer goal is an objective. The players are scoring a point for their team; however, a soccer goal is also a structure with the two posts and a net which doesn’t move. So, our goals when achieved are not the end of the game but the beginning of the next chapter. Setting goals can be a lot of fun when we don’t get all heavy about them.

I invite you to get curious about your goals and play with them as if it’s a game. Keep shooting until that ball hits the back of the net!

Celebrate then go for the next one because that certainly will not be the last goal you score.