Importance of goal

Man has a free will and shapes the course of his life. The life of man is determined by his choice in thought, speech and action. Environment and genetics may influence him, but they are there not to be accommodated but to overcome. So does with temptations, evil and hardship.  These are tests.  These are there to maximize his pleasure when overcome. The more temptations, evil and hardship he comes across, the bigger the sense of achievement.  God guides us to the path we want to go. He does not get involved in the path we choose.  If we seek righteous purpose, He helps us to reach there, whereas if we seek evil purpose, He also helps us to achieve it.

That being said, what if we do not have a purpose? Without goal, we are lost. All hardships, temptations, and evils we may across will be wasted without being used for productive purpose. Life will be meaningless.  We will suffer but not knowing why.  How important it is to have a sense of direction!  

When we are clear with the end goal, if we can focus on the big picture, all the obstacles we will hit upon on the way will add the spice that give fuller taste to our sense of achievement in the end.   Having goal does not only make our action meaningful but our entire life, because life is a project with a clear end goal.   

"When one comes to defile himself, the door is opened for him." I

Free will, Genie the lamp

Man is created in the image of God.  Unlike other creations, the human being has free will. We have potential to shape and change the world.  But am I aware of this untapped power of my free will? Often I am possessed by the thought that I never progress, stay in the same place or get deteriorated.  I witness myself as a slave of habit.  Proper use of free will perfects world helping us achieve our goals.  However, achieving goals takes a lot of effort, so we get distracted and take the easy route instead: the escape route.  To exercise free will properly, therefore, we need to be constantly sensitive whether our choices are in line with our purpose and take regular monitoring (accounting).

Rabbi Weinberg provides some tips to exercise free will:

1.     Do not watch your life passing by.  Make decision actively and monitor your decision every day.

2.     Be your own person. Do not agree with society unless you’ve thought them through.

3.     Distinguish between body and soul and identify yourself with soul.  There is no way you will ever achieve peace by giving in to the body.  Real peace comes only when the body desires the soul’s success. 

Body: Gravitates toward transitory comforts and sensual plasures.  Desires to quit, to dream, to drown in passion, to procrastinate. 

Soul: Seeks understanding, meaning, productivity, accomplishment, permanence, greatness, confronts challenges, embraces reality and truth.

      4. Make your will God’s will. If you do, you will be partners in changing the world. 

 I once had a goal of losing weight. Instead of just doing exercise, I recorded the progress on a daily basis.  The impact was astounding. If I had not been aware of the goal and had not been diligent in keeping the record, I do not think I would have achieved that progress.  Goal is there to be accomplished and the success is guaranteed as long as directed and conscious effort with daily accounting are put into.  

Says little and dos much

“When he met three guests, Abraham said that he was going to bring them a snack, but he brought them a feast. Abraham is a man who says little and does much.”

One of life’s mysteries I find is that the more I say, the less chances of accomplishing it. This story of Abraham provides food for thought. He could have said that he would bring a bunch of food but did not do so. Can we think he was dishonest? Not really. Abraham is a role model for the humanity and I believe that the trait he displayed here is something God wants us to emulate; say little and do much. 

I do not know what the relationship between saying and acting, but there must be a close relationship between two domains; when I speak little, it gets me easier to act. Often because of this I limit my commitment, since when I say a lot, it is highly likely that I may not be able to keep it. However I should not be confused this with limiting myself in pushing to see how much potential I really have.

Force of visualization is real

Mental image makes it easier for you to take action. Rabbis say that visualization is one of the most valuable gifts that God gave us.  The more times you repeat positive trait, state, pattern, habit and the way of being that you wish, the more ingrained they become making it easier to follow through in reality.  Anything that we’ve visualized doing is stored in our brain as if we actually took that action. Mental rehearsal shortens time to build up your willingness to act. 

The power of visualization is something I have experienced often times in my life without realizing its power and as a result paying little attention to the negative impact it can bring when not used properly. Looks like this is a new spring that I need to dig and actively use.

The fact that I have not explored my potential fully enough is because I never dared to imagine the ideal state I wish to belong to. Visualization is one tool connected to the creation. I have always desired to imitate God in His power of creation and visualization is a tool that can propel mental picture into action and eventually to reality. Creating image first and create it in the reality.  The reason I am not satisfied with my life is that I have not tapped into imagination or I used it in a negative way.

Force of using visualization is real. I will picture myself repeatedly with traits of discipline, persistence, self-control, zest, gratitude, optimism, curiosity, courage, kindness, serenity and conscientiousness. Most importantly, I will mentally visualize myself having done those tasks I planned to do every day.