2009 Wellness Goals Visionwork

Our physical, spiritual and emotional well being is the foundation for living the life we want to live. Our own health is the thing we often give the least amount of attention to, yet it is the one thing that can interrupt our lives in an instant.

In this experiential swap, we will be setting aside some quiet time to discover ONE health and wellness oriented goal (often called "New Year's Resolutions" at this time of year) that we would like to strive for and manifest for ourselves in 2009. (of course you are more than welcome to do it for more than one goal, not as an extra to aim for hearts here on swap-bot, but to aim for your own personal internal hearts!)

Perhaps there is an alternative or holistic health method that you would like to study and practice. Perhaps you would like to improve your upper body strength. Maybe it is integrating meditation or yoga time into your life, or changing the way you eat. These are just some examples of goals you might think of for yourself, but taking some time to create sacred space for yourself to envision which goal is just right for you is what this swap is about.

There will be two components to this swap:

• Writing a detailed description of your Wellness goal
• Representing visually what successfully reaching your goal looks like to you

The visual representation can be any media you choose: simple stick figures with pencil or crayon; a drawing or painting; a collage made with magazine pictures; a photo you take...any method you would like to use to illustrate visually your manifested goal.

Answer the following questions to help clarify the written portion of your goal. Do not worry about answering these questions perfectly!! They are merely here to help you brainstorm and free associate with your inner wisdom:

1. Describe in detail what health/wellness goal you would like to manifest for yourself in 2009. How will achieving this goal improve your health/wellness?

2. Describe the specific steps you will take, and the order in which you will take them, to manifest your goal. How can you break down the steps into achievable chunks? What is a reasonable pace/timeframe for you in taking these steps in order to set yourself up for success in achieving your goal?

3. What sort of help, support and/or guidance might you require to achieve this goal? What resources can you use to get this help and support?

4. What sort of obstacles do you envision that might inhibit you from achieving your goal? What can you do to minimize/overcome these obstacles?

5. How can you keep yourself motivated along the way to reaching your goal? List some ways that can help you keep your goal on the "front burner" of your focus for 2009.

6. Will you need to let go of something else in your life in order to make room for integrating this goal? If so, what will you let go of, and how will you let go of it?

7. How will you recognize when you have achieved the goal? How do you define your own personal success as it relates to achieving this goal? Does this goal have a clear cut ending, or will it be a life long change in behavior for you? Pretend it is December of 2009, one year from now. Describe how you are looking BACK on the year and acknowledging yourself for the steps you made towards achieving your goal and the rewards you are noticing.

Since the written and visual vision work you do for this goal setting swap are most likely something you will want to hang onto for yourself to reference throughout 2009, send your partner a photocopy or scanned/printed out version of both the written and visual pieces of this swap. When you rate your partner, give words of encouragement in the comment to help your partner feel motivated to stick with their plan!

If there is interest, I will do quarterly swaps for reviewing your progress on your goal(s) and/or updating them as needed. Remember, goals give you a direction to steer your life's compass, but you can always review them and modify them along the way to "correct your course" as needed. Do not be intimidated by creating a goal and fearing that it is "cast in stone". Flexibility for change when required is a part of goal setting too.