Tag: goal setting

Clear Your Mind

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We are consumed daily with so much noise that we can’t take the time to think. Think about our goals, plans and dreams for our futures. We are inundated with so much that’s nothing but noise. I call noise anything that doesn’t allow you to focus on what you should be focusing.

We have to carve out time for ourselves to just think. My best thinking and ideas happen while I’m walking. I love walking. By my job there’s a forest preserve trail that I walk to clear my mind. As I’m walking, I look at nature and I’m just in awe of what God has created. I’m able to hear. Hear from God, hear my thoughts and plans. I have a peace that I can’t explain while walking. Walking centers me.

I notice things that I wouldn’t normally notice because I’m moving too fast or focusing on the wrong things. On one of my afternoon walks I met my friend below.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I saw a turtle. A turtle! He was just moving along as if he didn’t have a care in this world. I thought to myself I need to have the attitude of a turtle – moving at my own pace and not caring about what others are doing. Focusing on myself and making sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.

Below are some other picture I’ve taken on my walks:

Let’s talk. What works best for you to clear your mind?

What’s Hindering You?

thenaturalprofessor2 Comments


We all face challenges that can cause us to forget our goals and dreams. We can allow obstacles to slow and even stop our progress. Along our journey, we can allow life, family, friends, limited finances, and our present social status to hinder our progress. What’s hindering you?  

Have you figured out what’s stopping you from reaching your goals? You have to determine the root cause of why you haven’t reached your goals, and move those obstacles out of your way! We have to be determined to let nothing and nobody block our progress.

I’ve learned that sometimes we don’t want to figure out what’s hindering us because we will have to deal with whatever IT is. Sometimes we don’t want to face that we will have to let dead weight go. That dead weight may be family, friends, a significant other or even that job we have had for 20 years. We have to be willing to let it go.


Choosing to let go is never easy. We like to operate within our comfort zone, but if we want to excel in every area of our lives, we have to choose to operate outside of our comfort zone. Operating outside of our comfort zone included battling fear and the unknown. We can do it! We can face whatever obstacles that are hindering us and overcome those obstacles!

Make a resolution now to remove every hindrance to your success in every area of your life. Don’t delay. Start right now!

When we tackle obstacles, we find hidden reserves of courage and resilience we did not know we had. And it is only when we are faced with failure do we realise that these resources were always there within us. We only need to find them and move on with our lives. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Setting Goals 101

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January is a good month to consider our goals for this year.  What do we want to accomplish this month, six months from now, or even this year?  Is your goal a good goal?  Is the goal a SMART goal?  You may be asking what does she mean by SMART.  Hold that thought for a moment…

I used to teach introductory college course for University of Phoenix.  One of the topics covered is setting goals, which leads to discussing the importance of goals.  Goals are important for several reasons:

  • Goals help you focus.
  • Goals help you be organized.
  • Goals help you manage your time effectively.
  • Goals help you have a sense of purpose.
  • Goals help you have a plan.
Now, back to SMART Goals.  A SMART Goal is not a new term.  Most have heard of SMART Goals, so this is just a refresher.  A good goal will meet the following criteria:
Specific – What do you plan to accomplish?  A specific goal should answer all appropriate questions:  who, what, when, where, which and why.  For example, a general goal is:  I will go to college.  A specific goal is:  I will take one five-week college accounting course beginning in February 2014.
Measurable – How will you measure your progress?  How will you know when you have reached your goal?
Attainable – What will be needed to accomplish this goal?  In order to reach the goal, do I need a new skill, finances, or even a different attitude.
Realistic – Have I set a goal that is reachable and challenging?  We don’t want to set a goal that is not reachable.  Setting unreachable goals leads to disappointment and failure.  For example:  I will win the Mega Million lottery this year.  Seriously?!
Timely – There should be a time limit on the goal.  Setting a time limit keeps us honest and provides the sense of urgency we need to accomplish our goals.
I challenge you to develop one SMART Goal and share with me your goal.  We can do whatever we set our minds to do.  We just need to establish SMART Goals.  One of my goals for this year was to start blogging in January.  Let’s hold each other accountable and provide encouragement along the way to reach our goals.  No more saying what we are going to do.  Let’s do it!