Why a Goal Hiatus Might Be the Best Goal of All

I’m not the first smarty-pants to say it, but I’ll say it now: You don’t have to set any goals right now.

Yes, sure, it’s the end of a year and practically everyone is doing it. But you don’t have to.  

You could take a goal hiatus instead.

At the onset of 2016 I took a goal hiatus and set out to do nothing. But I dressed it up because nothing sounded drab and overly rebellious. Instead I said I would coast.

Coast verb (of a person or vehicle) move easily without using power.  

The essence of my desire to coast was rooted in the way the word itself made me feel. When I envisioned coasting through 2016, I envisioned gliding, skating, floating, and sailing. I felt at ease thinking about it and that in itself felt good.

So this is what I did in 2016. A variation of nothing. I coasted.

My desire to do nothing was met with skepticism. Every new year, new you blog told me I had to write all my goals down and do a lot of things this year like wake up at 4am, meditate, eat kale, run a marathon, and do crafts with my kid to be successful (and happy). It was as if the number of things I did, equated to my worth, and I just wasn’t having any of that.

What exactly is nothing? No goals. No diet goals, work goals, fitness goals, or school goals. No new aspirations. No material goals like go there, buy this, earn that.

My goal was to move with ease through the year and just be.

By doing nothing and choosing to coast instead, I actually learned a lot. Like, I learned that I am an introvert. I learned I want to talk less (and listen better). I learned about apologizing – and even when it sucked, I apologized, too. And I learned that my intuition is stronger, smarter, and wiser than I ever knew.

The things I learned are quiet, internal things. Intimate reflections that might not have been as discoverable had I been pursuing, doing, and achieving this year.

When we allow ourselves time to breath a little, to coast on the momentum we’ve already built up, and pause, magical things can happen.

So, can you give yourself the space and permission to do nothing this year?
Gx