Lately, I feel like I’ve stumbled upon a secret underground stream of wisdom, where the spoken language is one of achieving dreams, lifting others, shining light, and collaboration. These are my highest hopes for my life and what the world can be.

The reason I say I “stumbled upon” this message, is because both the book I’m reading and the podcast I’m listening to, neither of which mention the other, echo a similar idea. Ruth Soukup says often in her podcast, Do It Scared, that if our goals don’t scare us, then they aren’t big enough.

Likewise, in Big Potential, author Shawn Achor quotes Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president of Liberia and the first female to be president in any African country, who said, “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” There we have it again! The idea that we must strive for things that are difficult to imagine, things that scare us is forefront.

This month, I asked God to lead me as I set goals, and put me on a worthy path. Strangely, two of the big goals I felt called to set involve mediums that scare me: blogging and business. They scare me because they seem to have a dark side that is different from the aims and wisdom I mentioned above. Blogging often promotes an unrealistic ideal of perfection, and business often involves ruthlessness and slimy sales. But the sources God has led me to this month have shown a much different side to both blogging and business, and they invite people who want to cause positive change and inspire others to use them. It’s as if they are answering the exact question my heart has been asking. My challenge is not just to do these things, it is to do them in a way that is in line with my values. So I will join the voices above, and add my own spin: “If your big dreams are not in line with your values, they aren’t virtuous enough.”

As you work to determine your own goals this month, you might take some time to first write down what you value most. If you need help with that, read my post here. Let your values and your higher power guide you. Use prayer, meditation, and anything holy that speaks to you. A lot of worthy paths also have a dark side, but you can be the light that shines.

If you have a story about your own goal setting path, I want to hear it! Hit reply and let me know.

Shine bright,
Lauren