Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Lately, I’ve been asking myself if I have it backwards having joy as my goal. Based on my experiences last fall with blogging and practicing better attitude, I’ve come to the conclusion that happiness as a goal is elusive. much like chasing own’s own tail. Something inside clicked after reading this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt.

My focus is shifting to goals with smaller measures of success for 2012. I’m trusting that joy will come as a byproduct of living a meaningful life. What I mean by meaningful is a life of choice aligned with my values, dreams, and goals; living on purpose.

At times, I feel far away from my ideas of success, so I’m practicing what I preach in this blog. I’m “gentling it up” by starting with smaller steps. It’s not that I don’t have moments of joy and happiness, but they seem rather temporary and shallow. I will pause, take notice and celebrate any progress in the direction of my goals. I believe that as I align my life more with sharing my gifts and living on purpose, a deeper satisfaction will come. A satisfaction born of accomplishment and conscious choice. Finding a purpose has been another elusive goal in my life, so I’m switching to creating my purpose. For now, my purpose is to live consciously, choice by choice moving closer to my dreams and goals.

So here are my goals for 2012.

Gratitude! Small improvements. Giving with no regard for benefit. Giving my best to each day and being gentle with myself when I don’t. As I blogged about previously, a key shift for me this year is to be satisfied with my life now and any small improvements that I make. I will celebrate small steps in the direction of my dreams and goals.

To a worthy new year, consciously created each day and each moment.

Blessings, Brad