Have you ever thought about your goals like THIS before?

Hey friends, I've been doing much thinking. (That can be a good thing or a bad thing, LOL)

Have we been looking at goal-setting and achievement all wrong?

Hear me out.

Most of the talk around town surrounds the idea that a goal must be massive, leaving you feeling utterly incapable and lost. It's up to us to spend all of our energy, time, and resources to reach this "thing," "standard," or "ideal."

In the mind of a neurodivergent, it's no wonder we have so many issues coming up with goals and abandoning the path to reaching them so quickly. It can be very overwhelming to think "BIG," turning our initial novelty and drive into fear and ambiguity.

So let's turn this thing into something we can understand.

I want you to think of your goal as a person with whom you are in a healthy relationship or friendship. You are walking hand in hand with this goal, doing the steps and the work it takes to cultivate it and make it worth your time.

Sometimes you may need to take a few steps back from your goal, but like any healthy partnership, you use that time and space to come back with more perspective and understanding of what to do next. The path may be a bit scary at times, but knowing that you've forged a strong relationship with your goal will help you be brave in those moments of uncertainty.

This is part of how we creatively weave our goals into our daily lives. Like a strong relationship, we strive to keep progress, authenticity, and faith in ourselves in co-creating our goals.

Accountable Otters Club is being designed with this imagery in mind, to understand how we center ourselves and our goals as co-creators. It will never be a "thing" that is so far removed from who you are that it feels like it will never come to fruition; it will always be something you realistically and consciously create.

This mind shift will help you stay accountable in realizing your goals. They are there! They always have been. You need to believe that you've already got what it takes to make them real.

Next week, we will explore how to discover what goal is right for us here in our newsletter. I know it isn't easy to choose a goal sometimes, so I'll guide you through that process.

Until then, I'll leave you with these reflection questions: What is your current relationship with your goals? How do you feel when thinking about them? Why do you feel this particular way? Unpack it for me in reply to this email if you like.

And finally, an invitation; I am partnering with Alex Kurth of The Kurth Kitchen to help you to stay accountable in centering nourishing meals for you and your family. She will host an Accessible Meal Planning (AMP) Body Doubling session FREE via Zoom next Wednesday, February 1, at 6:30 pm CST. I know I have a tough time personally with mealtime in my household, so I deeply appreciate this from Alex. I'll be there, so I hope to see you there too!

Register for the AMP Body Doubling session below:

Warmly,

Izzie

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