GOAL SETTING FOR 2009 
Another year is looming and for many of us we can still feel stuck on the same treadmill of life and wonder what happened to those long distant New Year resolutions we made way back on the first day of 2008. Firstly, it's good to get a large imaginary pot and visualise throwing all your thoughts of old goals and resolutions that have fallen by the wayside, into it. Whatever failures (there is no such thing, merely how you judge the experience yourself), disappointments or missed chances, simply... let them all go as 2009 is a perfect year, on many levels, to start afresh, set specific, achievable goals for yourself in order to move your life along more positively. On many levels, including the fact that the vibration of the earth and that group consciousness is quickening, it is a particularly important time to pay attention to your thoughts, beliefs, dreams, goals and aspirations. 
I work a lot with the Native American Medicine animals, and ‘Bear' medicine is a perfect example of the energy we could all work with at this time of year and the impending start of a new cycle. Bear lies in the west on the great medicine wheel of Life. The West can signify the sun setting on 2008, and our need for ‘introspection,' before setting our goals for 2009. Why introspection? Because many of us keep pushing forward year on year focussing on keeping busy... busy... busy... with what we want and forget to give ourselves time to re-evaluate what we have experienced and what we are ready to release from our lives. Bear is very comfortable retreating into his cave in winter and digesting all his experiences, recognising what has served and what no longer serves and then coming back out to play, reinvigorated and with a new set of goals and challenges.
Taking a lesson from ‘Bear,' December is a great month to give yourself a quiet hour or so to either meditate, or sit alone with your thoughts and some paper and give an honest account of how 2008 has been for you. As easy as this may sound, I see so many people who are conditioned to putting everyone else's needs before their own that they find it very difficult to actually sit still and quietly reflect. This is really important because if you find that you have a fear of being needed during that time or that someone else needs to give you approval to take that time, then already you have made yourself aware of a pattern of previous abandonment and your self-worth being dependant on others - this is a very common pattern and could be one of your major goals for 2009, to reclaim your power and self-worth.
During this period of introspection, be quite clinical in seeing if your friendships are what they used to be, is someone taking a lot more form you (physically, mentally, emotionally) than you are receiving from them? Are you happy with your job? Your partner? Are you stuck in daily routines or habits that are starting to bother you? Are there things that you would like to be doing differently in your spare time? Can you communicate your wishes and dreams with a partner, or have you fallen into a habit of tip toeing around getting what you want?
The reason for being quite clinical with writing these feelings and observations down, is that we start to recognise how much we all ‘put up with,' and it's not until we actually see it on paper that we can motivate ourselves to change.
2009 is an ‘11' year and metaphorically, the number (11) symbolizes a point in our journey where we've reached a fork in the road and a decision must be made (to choose either the path to the right or the path to the left). One of these paths will ensure positive change and upward growth, while the other portends stagnation and a loss of initiative, purpose and direction (due to a refusal to change, innovate or revise previous decisions or conduct). With that in mind surely it is worth spending a few hours to set goals for positive change. 
Having set the scene for the reason to look within and set goals for the coming year, it is certainly worth knowing that ‘Success psychologists' say that 95% - 97% of the people in the world who do NOT have written goals fail, while 3-5% who have written goals, succeed. Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, once said, "I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps it's because escape is easier than change."
On a final note, 2 weeks left to evaluate 2008, and write specific goals for 2009, reiterating and continually visualising through next year.
Jules x