Jump to the following topics:

1. What are goals?
2. We gain benefits from having goals.
3. There is a time to have no goals. 
4. Our goals originate from various sources. 
5. The techniques for creating and attaining goals.

What are goals? They are specific material states toward which we direct our attention and activities. These "material states" could be a physical object (e.g., a new home), a circumstance (e.g., a better job), a psychological trait (e.g., patience), a bodily condition (e.g., fitness), etc.

We gain benefits from having goals.

1. Goals help us to concentrate our efforts in a chosen direction. When we have goals, we know which activities to engage and value, and which ones to ignore as irrelevant.
2. Goals stimulate us. They inspire us, fascinate us, motivate us, and spur our imagination. When we have a goal, we have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and to perform activities. This motivation is important because our purpose for being in this world is to learn about archetypes through our interaction with them; we learn very little when we are sedentary.
3. Goals set a standard. They are an ideal against which we measure our weaknesses, our growth, and our fulfillment.

There is a time to have no goals. Goals are in the domain of the left hemisphere of the brain; they are part of our logical, sensible, purposeful approach to life. But we also need to accommodate the right hemisphere with some time off for playfulness and recreation, to refresh ourselves and to generate the vitality which makes life enjoyable and fun. During this play-time, we gain the most pleasure and psychological benefits if we have no goals; this includes the goal of "recharging ourselves to do more work." The play must be done for its own sake, on its own terms, if it is to provide a balance to our labor. (The duality of play/work is explored in the chapter regarding "pleasure and play"; a more-esoteric view of goal-making is explored in a section on "goals in meditation" in the introductory meditation chapter.)

Our goals originate from various sources.  

1. The ego. Ego's job is to create the material environment which is satisfies the fundamental, archetypal needs of our human life; for example, its goals are to create a home, a food supply, a source of income, a source of sex, etc.
2. Dysfunctional elements in our a-fields. Their goal is to discharge their residual charge from previous archetypal encounters; for example, if we have a residual charge from the angry thoughts which we created previously, these elements's goal will be to find someone upon whom we can discharge this anger.
3. Intuition. Intuition gives us a "vision" of something which will be useful in our lives -- for our material environment and for our spiritual education regarding archetypes. Intuition comes from spirit, which has a holistic view of all dynamic factors in a situation, so its goals encompass and satisfy all of our needs:
   • The needs of the ego (to create our human world).
   • The needs of the dysfunctional elements (to discharge their residual charge).
   • The needs of our soul (to generate specific circumstances which will allow us to explore a particular archetypal aspect of life).

The techniques for creating and attaining goals.

1. We use archetypal field-work.
   • Affirmations. We can use affirmations to develop our self-confidence, courage, stamina, and other attributes which will help us to attain goals.
   • Visualization. We visualize the goal and the intermediate steps.
   • Energy toning. We generate energy tones of self-confidence, courage, pleasure (so that we enjoy the tasks and are thus more willing to perform them), etc.
   • The as-if principle. We rehearse the psychological and material conditions which will exist after we attain our goal; for example, if our goal is to be more patient, we act "as if" we are patient.
2. We develop our intuition. Intuition gives us various types of information:
   • Intuition can provide the goal itself, as explained in the previous section.
   • Intuition can guide us toward that goal. Because it is aware of all dynamic factors which lie between us and the goal, it can tell us what to do, what not to do, when to proceed with a phase of the project, where to get information and help, etc.
3. We select goals which are meaningful to us. This meaningfulness comes from our feeling that the attainment will enrich our lives; the feeling derives from intuition or from a healthy ego. In contrast, we might select a goal whose attainment gives only emptiness and dissatisfaction; that type of goal might have come from a dysfunctional a-field element which we acquired from previous archetypal encounters or from the values which we accepted from society, our parents, teachers, the media, advertisements, preachers, the government, or another source.
4. We clarify our goals. Sometimes a goal doesn't properly address our underlying intent; for example, we might want "to be a businessperson," but our deeper intent is "to be self-employed" and a business seems like the best way to become self-employed. If we recognize the intent, we might find a more effective means of fulfilling it, and we might discover that the superficial goal brings no satisfaction anyway; for example, if we want "to be successful as a businessperson" but we really want "to be successful to prove that I'm a worthwhile person," our goal needs to be the development of self-esteem rather than the creation of a business.
5. We select specific goals. A specific goal is "to reduce my weight to 120 pounds" rather than "to lose weight." When our goals are precise, we know when we have attained them, so we feel a sense of completion and accomplishment; "to lose weight" is less satisfying because we don't know when we have succeeded.
6. We select verifiable goals. For those same reasons, goals need to be verifiable; 120 pounds can be confirmed on a bathroom scale. A goal of "financial security" might be measured in terms of dollars in the bank, a particular investment portfolio, a job in a business with minimal turn-over, etc.
7. We select attainable goals. Despite the charm of "the impossible dream," we can stay motivated only if our goals are believable. Impossible dreams beget failure and frustration. At the other extreme, if our goals are too easy, we experience little motivation -- and little satisfaction upon their accomplishment. A moderate goal gives us the opportunity to experience success and gratification -- and probably a sufficient reward (materially and psychologically).
8. We select "positive" goals. A positive goal is, for example, to "establish peaceful relations with my neighbor" rather than "to stop hating my rude neighbor." The positive goal creates a-field elements (i.e., thoughts, images, energy tones, and actions) of harmony and balance; in contrast, the negative goal implants elements of hatred and rudeness into our own a-fields as we ponder those traits in the neighbor -- and then we must become hateful and rude in order to discharge the elements.
9. We can select goals which depend on circumstances which we control. In the example of "friendly relations with a neighbor," we will be more productive and successful if we create goals which depend solely on our actions, e.g., "to maintain my peace of mind when dealing with the neighbor." If our goals are internal, the following events are likely to occur:
   • We experience the friendly relations, even if the friendliness is all on our part. (We cannot control the neighbor's actions and attitude; some people are simply unreasonable and unfriendly.)
   • We increase the possibility for a friendly response from our neighbor if we are acting from peacefulness rather than an attempt to manipulate the neighbor into being peaceful.
10. We can have goals in all areas of our life. Goals are useful in our career, family life, health, skills, fitness, hobbies, recreation, friendships, finances, personality enhancement, intellectual development, emotional vigor, relationships, etc. Some of these goals can be short-term; others must be long-term. Look for areas in which you are directionless; the symptoms of this are anxiety and lack of progress. The anxiety is stagnant energy; we can use that energy to invigorate us for our work.
11. We can break down our goals into steps. We gain these benefits when we divide our big goals into smaller goals.
    • A small goal is less intimidating. For example, remodeling our home might seem like an overwhelming project, but we can be comfortable with the idea of painting one room. (After painting that room, we paint the next room, and then the next room.)
    • A small goal is easier to schedule. For example, we might not feel that we have enough time to remodel our home, but we can find three hours to paint the first room.
    • Each small goal gives us a logical point at which to evaluate our progress and the validity of the project itself.  
    • We gain satisfaction at the completion of each step. Instead of postponing that pleasure until the end of the big project, we experience it when we finish each step. This satisfaction is a type of "reward" (as explained below).
12. We reward ourselves when we reach a goal. These rewards motivate us, and they soothe any feeling of struggle which has occurred during our efforts. We can reward ourselves in various ways:
    • We indulge the pleasures from the goal itself; for example, if the goal was an amount of money, we spend some of it on a celebration.
    • We indulge the natural psychological phenomena which occur when we attain a goal:
      • An increase in self-confidence and self-esteem.
      • Gratitude for any "good luck" and personal assistance which we received.
13. We learn from the experience. We will be more successful in achieving other goals if we reflect on our new understanding, which can include:
    • Technical knowledge. For example, in the home-remodeling task, we learned about the techniques of painting a room.
    • Problem-solving skills.
    • New perceptions regarding our a-fields and the dynamics of spirit as portrayed in this world of material circumstances.