The ‘G’ in the GEMS protocol stands for goal. Goal setting is interesting because everybody; every marketing maven, self-help guru and new age manifestor will preach the importance of it, and yet, for some crazy reason, not everyone does it. Or, almost as bad, we do it in January and then put the list away never to been seen or heard from again.
In Touch for Health, we learn that goals need to be positive, personal and present-tense in order to be used well in a balance. A good goal has a little stress on it (otherwise it isn’t a goal, it’s a ‘To Do’ list), but seems reachable and realistic (otherwise it’s not a goal, it’s a wish). One of the gifts that we can give our clients is help finding clarity in goals, so that when they come in with vague statements like: “I just want to feel better”, we can help them to see what it is that is really creating stress in their lives. What will be different in your life when you feel better? How would you spend your time? What would you be able to do? By using questions we can figure out what is at the root of the issue, but it also gives us a gauge so that they can see when there has been an improvement. When they say they just want to feel better and they come in for a second appointment, you ask them if they feel better and, because they still don’t feel like they want to, they say no and are discouraged at their lack of progress. If however, you have clarified the goal to something like: “I have the energy to laugh and play with my kids in the evening,” you can ask how their energy has been after work in the past week. If they managed to play catch in the backyard once this week, that’s progress. It lets them see that change is happening and feel good about it.
Earlier in the year I did an experiment where every single day for a month I set an affirmation for the day. These ranged from things like: “I have been blessed with abundance in my life — I share with others who haven’t,” to, “My immune system beats the heck out of this virus. Before dinner.” For anyone interested in the full list of affirmations, click here.
Do you find it challenging to set goals or to help clients do this effectively?
We’re all in this together!
Alexis
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