The Importance of Setting Goals

In order for an individual to feel “at home” in their body, they must experience harmony, synchronicity and wellness in all three domains i.e. affective (heart), cognitive (mental acuity) and psychomotor (physical body). In other words, they must feel “wholistically” fit for life! Often before this synchronicity or internal transition can occur, the individual must go through three key phases:

1. Breakdown – Life sidelines you (can put you on your knees): “the ending stage”.
   
2. Breakthrough – Change happens here. It is often a place to grow from where your discovery strengthens and lessons are learned. There is often discomfort here as well as ah-ha moments! This is the “neutral zone”. This is also the chasm between breakdown and integration until there is a breakthrough.
   
3. Integration – This is where life gets put back together ; the learner does the work to find their new normal. It’s about transition and transformation into a “new normal"
   

Setting goals is an important part of navigating these transition phases and for achieving whole-body wellness. It can sometimes be difficult to initially determine what your goals are. Sunflower Transitions will help you determine what goals you need to set in order to improve your life balance and maximize your personal potential.

Sample Goals

New Mothers/Stay-at-Home Parents

• Improve body image
  
• Understand loss of confidence/role identity
  
• Increase self-esteem
  
• Identify feelings 
  
• Gain access to community support programs.
  

Single Parents

• Better time-management
  
• Identify key transferable and marketable skills
  
• Coping with exhaustion
  
• Balance paid/unpaid work roles
  
• Improve self-care
  

Teens/Young Adults

• Understand drug and alcohol abuse
  
• Improve relationship issues including family dysfunction, divorce issues, lack of role models,bullying and a lack of direction 
  
• Determine tools to make proper career and life decisions or achieve “preferred outcomes” and desired life goals.
  
• Physical/emotional concerns (body image or peer issues)
  

Athletes

• Concussion support/education
  
• Relaxation and focus issues 
  
• Deal with anxiety or post concussion syndrome, change cycles, emotional intelligence
  
• Aid in career/life transitions

Couples/Blended Families

• Manage the negative effects of frequent transition & change cycles on family dynamic 
• Cope with one spouse working away from home 2-3 weeks each month 
• Understand the challenges when families are blended
• Balance parenting/work demands with time for healthy self-care and making time for date nights with spouse
• Understand and identify conflicting values in the relationship
• Improve poor communication/conflict resolution skills
• Manage opposing personality and parenting styles
  

Seniors

• Deal with life stages/retirement transitions/grief loss stages. 
  
• Support for spouses who have become 24/7 caregiver to their loved one
  

 New to Canada

• Cope with culture shock, family challenges, understanding the work and social fabric of new country and small town living
  
• Create new support systems
• Integrate children into new schools and indivuduals to their new neighbourhood