Many people understand the concept of setting goals in life to empower themselves. What most people don’t know is that goals require a constant stream of force behind them to keep them alive. In other words, you need to push them all the time to make them come true.What do I mean by force and push? To force something is to compel through pressure or necessity. To push a goal is to apply enough force to the goal to keep it fresh and empowered. This constant pushing of your goal, while necessary, is also a detriment to effective manifestation of the goal itself. Goals are artificially created by the mind and backed up by concepts and beliefs in order for them to work. Take away the concepts and beliefs that give them the foundation to live and they will evaporate in no time. How does this look like in practice? Let’s assume you have a goal to lose weight. As you may already know, it is important to set your goals precisely. So let’s say you want to lose 25 pounds over the next 3 months, starting today. This goal needs a foundation to work. You need to have some sort of motivation that encourages you to do this. Let’s look at some reasons you may want to do this: * You want to look attractive to others * You want to look attractive to your partner * You believe that you are overweight * You want to fit into your favorite dress or pants again Whatever the reason is, you absolutely need to have one, otherwise you won’t have the motivation to start. And the mere act of starting is the challenging part as you need to change some of your usual behavior and concepts in life. We all know what a challenge changing your behavior and concepts can be! Behavior is changed in the physical domain, concepts are changed in the mental domain. This double whammy of physical and mental change is what makes a simple thing like weight loss such a challenge to bring off successfully. Successful goals always come from a corresponding change in the mental domain. Why is this? Simply, it is because your mind and your thoughts are what create your reality. If you change only your behavior, you will have only short-term success. In time, you will fall back to your old pattern of behavior – the very thing you tried to change in the first place! So lets assume you are in the second month of your weight loss goal and your partner leaves you. What happens to your goal about losing weight? It doesn’t work anymore, it vanishes and evaporates into thin air. You just took away the foundation and the motivation for your goal. As you can see, the problem with goals is that they depend on life circumstances – and they are always forced by mental concepts. How About Dreams? Your dreams are powered by source, by the ultimate power of consciousness. Your dreams are the recognition of what you can do with your unique gifts and talents you have brought into this life. Every person comes with a unique set of talents. These talents lead to a unique way of expressing themselves through various forms of creativity. Universal creativity is really what powers everything behind all manifestation. Occasionally, we utilize unique properties of this creativity in specific ways. With this creativity you are able to serve other people and in return you get rewarded with a form of energy. In our western civilization, the most common reward is often money. In summary: You discover your strengths, gifts and talents. You find ways to use them that very practically enrich and support society. You are in service to others. By the way, being in service in this way is life’s ultimate purpose. Your dreams are powered by your unique creative abilities. These abilities are like a never-ending fountain, the wellspring of your life. They will always be with you, in good times and bad. They are completely independent from mental concepts. They are powered by your true nature. You can deny them, but you can’t get rid of them. Even on the worst day of your life, your dreams still exist. If you don’t live your dreams, you must constantly suppress them by mental concepts like: * I am too old to start * I don’t know how to do it * Nobody will be interested in it * My friends will hate me when I do it * You name it! I have used the words force and power to associate them with goals and dreams. To understand the concepts behind these words I highly recommend David Hawkins book “Power Versus Force. Here are a few definitions from the book that help define the idea of power versus force: * Force is associated with the partial, power with the whole * Force must always be justified, power requires no justification * Force always creates counter-force and its effect is limited by definition * Force is a movement, power is a skill * Force always moves against something, power doesn’t move against anything at all * Force is incomplete and therefore has to be fed energy constantly * Power is total and complete in itself and requires nothing from outside * Force constantly consumes while power energizes, supplies and supports * Power gives life and energy, force takes these away * Power is associated with compassion, force is associated with judgment * Force requires proof and support, power is inarguable and not subject to proof People who fulfill their dreams are the happiest people on earth. They do what’s in their nature. It is completely irrelevant what kind of dreams you have. Dreams don’t need to fit into anything. They don’t need any approval. They don’t need any money to start. Goals are temporary fixes of your mental desires that do not provide you with lasting happiness. The new car will get old and rusty, the new house will lose its charm over time, and if your goal is to create the perfect partner you will begin to see your partner’s imperfections over time as well. Your dreams are a recognition of what you truly are and how you can contribute to this world. You will never do anything else in your life but this. There is no true retirement from the contributions you can make in this life. You live this dream to your very last breath. Embrace the dream! Be the dream!