Goal Setting Reflection Meditation

Do you need to take a chill pill to calm down, focus, get clarity? Well, you're in the right place. Welcome to the Mind Body Space Podcast. I'm Dr. Juna Bobby MD. I'm a board-certified physician specializing in mind-body medicine. This is the Rx Chill Pill part of the podcast where I guide you through a meditation to elicit your relaxation response. This is a powerful, research-backed physiologic state that is the opposite of your stress response. A regular practice will boost your focus and resilience for peak performance and wellness. Science-backed self-help is one of the key solutions to thrive and stay healthy in our increasingly complex world. The few minutes you put in here will save you a ton of time in the real world. So please support this important message by pressing the share, subscribe, and rate buttons. Hi, so this is a goal-setting meditation. To follow up on that conversation I was having with Phi in episode number 96 about goal setting. So, goals might sound cliché or even boring, but creating complex goals is one of the highest forms of human intelligence. 'Cause it takes imagination, self-reflection, and planning with executive functioning skills to even create a goal for our future. So once our goals are established, they're like guides for our actions. Our brains become attentive to opportunities that may show up on a day-to-day basis that will help us get to these goals. But just like any road trip you would take, you need to know where you're going first. Our ability to imagine what we want for ourselves to create a future outcome is super important. Imagination is also an advanced capability that separates the human brain from other primates. As far as we know anyway. So let's take an optimistic view and see our future outcome in the best case scenario. A lot of times our brains will go into the worry mode, but here we're gonna just release all that and let yourself know that this exercise is all about seeing our best outcome. So find a comfortable place where you can be safe for the next 5 minutes. Just relax and check in with yourself. Notice where your mind is right now. Notice your mood, your physical state. And now just take a deep breath with me. And on this next breath, just allow yourself to release all your muscles. Go ahead and take it with me. Inhale. Exhale whenever you're ready, slowly. That's it. And now one more breath on your own. Take a deep breath, and on the exhale, release any muscle tension in your face, neck, shoulders. Now come to relax with your focus in the palm of your hands. Imagine that you're holding a warm light in the palms of your hands, allowing this light to flicker with each bit of relaxation that you can find in your face, shoulders, neck, and arms. And now ask yourself, what is the best future outcome for myself? What is it that I want for myself? Just envision yourself living your best life, whether it's 1 year from now or 5 years from now, maybe even 10 years from now. What is it that you're doing? Who are you with? Where are you living? What kind of purpose are you working towards? What type of occupation or school are you in? See yourself with your best qualities in as much detail as you can, just allowing it to arise, whether it's in pictures, Maybe it's images coming through. Maybe it's just thoughts. Just allow whatever it is to arise for your best case scenario, if everything works out the way you would love for it to work out. Your dream life. Now zoom out and take a look at the time between now and that goal, whatever you chose, a year from now, 5 years or 10 years from now. Now zoom in a little to this month. What is the goal that you need to work towards this month that aligns with your long-term goal? Just let it arise for you. What is the most important thing? What is the second most important thing? And the third most important thing? Make sure one of them is self-care, because we must care for ourselves in order to reach any goal. So now let's zoom in even a little more. What are the most important things you have to do this week? Again, make sure you only think of the top 3 things you must do, and one of them has to be self-care. Getting enough sleep, exercising, or eating clean. And now zoom into today. What is the most important thing that you need to do to get you to the week, month, year, and 5-year goal. Just let it arise. Top 3 things you must do today, one of them being self-care. Now take a deep breath and exhale. Take a deep stretch. Inhale and exhale. If you feel low on energy or sleepy, you can take a deep breath and go for a quick run or a walk around the walk around the block, outside, or you may even need a little nap. Listen to your body. Now, if you had a clear vision of where you wanted to go, just jot it down. Start with your 5-year goal, your big picture goal, then zoom into your 1 year, your 1 month, your week, and then finally today's goals. I hope you enjoyed that and it helped you find clarity. And again, remember, if it wasn't completely clear today, you can always come back to this exercise. And it's something we should really be checking in on at least once a week. Circumstances change, new opportunities come up, and we always have to adjust. I hope you have the most amazing day, and just remember, you're the one that makes everything happen. So make sure that you care for yourself and love yourself and give yourself the support that you need. Thank you so much for being here with me and spending your precious time. Please share this with anyone who can use a little bit of clarity in their lives and come back to join me on the next episode where Fia Juna Bobby MD and I continue our conversation on goal setting. Until then, this is Dr. Juna wishing you wellness.