Rev. Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a Renaissance Woman and Bliss Mistress who delights in inviting people to live rich, full, juicy lives. She is a dynamic and inspiring speaker, an interfaith minister. She is currently writing her first book entitled The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming the Ordinary Into The Extraordinary. You can visit her at www.liveinjoy.org.

Josh Hinds: What is goal setting?

Edie Weinstein: I view goal setting as part and parcel of focusing intention to create an outcome; whether it be a job, a relationship, or lifestyle change. It is a road map or compass that can be used to measure where we are in the process. It is the first step along the journey….but it is only the beginning.

Josh Hinds: Why is goal setting important?

Edie Weinstein: As the lyrics of the Joe Jackson song so wisely proclaim… “You can’t get what you want, ’til you know what you want.” There have been far too many times in my life when I settled for whatever showed up, because I wasn’t aware of the power of goal setting, or didn’t trust myself to use the tools effectively. Right brain, creative type that I have always been, I eschewed structure for fear that it would hamper my colorful style. Not so, as I discovered; indeed, it enhanced it. Goal setting allows us that framework, that foundation, if you will, on which we can build. Something solid to stand on.

Josh Hinds: Can you share your best advice on goal setting?

Edie Weinstein: 1. Get a clear vision of what it is that you desire to manna-fest. I like that spelling since once what I have desired, has come to fruition, it does feel like ‘manna from Heaven’.

2. Embody that image….sit, stand, move and breathe AS IF what you desire is present in your life now.

3. Write a story about how it is in your here and now; the ways in which you live it.

4. Make your goals measurable and manageable. Such as…”by this date, I am completing 3 chapters in my book”

5. Make the goals believable. If you have difficulty imagining making $100, 000 a year…how about visualizing increasing your income by 20% for starters?

6. Gather encouragement from those who support your goals. Just as ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, so too does it take a village to see your dreams come to be.

7. Find ways to make the process fun. For example, a month or so ago, I joined a gym, with the intention of going 3-5 times a week. There are some days when I just don’t wanna, so I call them my ‘play-outs’ instead of work outs, and call the experience ‘sweating my prayers’, visualizing my healthier, trimmer body as I exercise. By the time I leave, I feel great!

Josh Hinds: Can you share some of the ways setting goals has had a positive impact in your life, whether personally or professionally?

Edie Weinstein: In only every way. When I applied for grad school, I remember sitting down with a friend and writing the names of the schools and programs that interested me and the dates by which I would complete the apps. After a few months, I checked back in with him and had done those tasks. By the next term, I had been accepted into Rutgers University’s School of Social Work from which I earned my MSW in 1985.

When I decided to become an Interfaith Minister, I treated the process and course work with the same degree of dedication and commitment as I had grad school; having a vision in mind of offering spiritual services as I have for the past nearly 11 years since ordination.

The most amazing experience from goal setting and visioning to manna-festation began more than 20 years ago when I had a a journalistic dream to interview His Holiness The Dalai Lama. In the interceding two decades, I seed planted by sharing my desires with anyone who would listen, created vision boards that had his picture on it, writing questions as if I would be interviewing him the next day and then….I surrendered the outcome.

Sure enough, on July 17, 2008, I had the opportunity, along with only one other journalist from the Philadelphia area, to spend 45 minutes in his presence and write about it. It is a poignant reminder that our deepest held dreams can become fully realized. The interview can be read on my website www.liveinjoy.org.

There is such a sense of gratification when I see the process from goal setting to tangible result. One thing that I have learned is that I don’t always have control over the final outcome and sometimes things work out better than even I, with my vivid imagination, can conjure.

-I hope you found the interview above helpful & gained some helpful ideas on setting and achieving goals! Take a moment to share your key takeaways from what was shared in the comments below.

Yours in goal setting success, Josh Hinds

PS. If you enjoyed the ideas shared in the interview above, be sure to join our free Goal Setting and Motivation Newsletter!