growth – Ria Warner

Half a decade, 5 and a half years, 66 months, 289 weeks, 2, 022 days. No matter how I measure the length of time between my last post and today it seems unfathomable. So much has changed in my life and yet so many of the same struggles arise and that is not a surprise, not because I am incapable of lasting change, but rather because a straight line does not exist and therefore progress does not occur in a linear (straight) path either.

A straight line is an abstract mathematical theory. Look closely at the natural world around you and you will notice that texture, depth, movement, and imperfections exist everywhere, straight lines are an impossibility. Why then would we expect people to be able to achieve the impossible?

As we all move through life we move forward through time which, at least currently, is the only dimension that prohibits movement in any other way. Every other dimension is fluid and therefore like the oceans ebbs and flows, and changes its movement based on gravity, weather, climate, and other external forces.

Our lives are complex and filled with external forces that impact our ability to move in a linear fashion. We have experiences that may push us forward and encourage us to make massive positive progress, or pull against us forcing us to exert ample effort to hold our ground and sometimes we are able to continue to move forward, while other times these forces cause us to back slide. Initially, these opposing forces appear to do nothing besides fight against us, however it is in the moments of adversity that we are able to hone our tools and skills to better be equipped for future challenges. While we are able to strengthen our response no amount of practice and positive progress will put an end to these trials.

In the last 5 years my waters have provided me with monumental momentum to make some positive changes to factors that were in my control. I have also had to fight against some very strong currents to hold my ground and from time to time they are able to push against me and drag me back into old thought processes and mindsets. I am committed however to keep paddling against these currents. There may be days that I just go with the flow and drift in whatever direction the waters take me but I will continue to forgive myself for my imperfections and enjoy the journey as much as I can and I hope that you will do the same.

Recently we have explored setting a Big Audacious Goal (BAG). A BAG should be so large that it seems almost unachievable at first. However with planning and perseverance anything is possible. Today we will unpack our BAG to see what smaller achievable goals are inside and then continue to break these smaller goals down until we have a list of bit sized steps.

We will start by looking at a BAG and pulling out the goals which are written within it. For this example, I will be using my BAG but encourage you to follow along with your own.

BAG: I will open an ecotherapy center (1) that offers a variety of mental wellness services that integrate traditional practices as well as nature assisted therapies. It will provide out-patient (2), partial hospitalization (3), and residential programs (4) as well as consultations (5) and programs for the general public (6).

As I begin to unpack my BAG I am able to identify six goals that are stated within it.

open an ecotherapy center
out-patient mental wellness services
partial hospitalization mental wellness services
residential mental wellness services
consulting
public programs

Looking at these six goals, they are still rather big, but as individual goals they are not as audacious. In order to make progress to these goals they need to be broken down even further into the smaller goals that must first be achieved to reach the bigger goal. So let’s breakdown one of these goals further.

To provide out-patient mental wellness services I need to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. I am planning to remain in Florida so the goals I have listed within this goal are linked to the Florida licensure requirements. These goals include:

Graduate from a masters level mental health counseling program that is accredited by CACREP (In Progress)
Complete 1500 Face to Face and 100 supervision hours as a Registered Intern
Pass the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination
Complete the Rules & Laws Course (8 hours)
Complete the HIV/AIDS Course (3 hours)
Complete the Domestic Violence Course (2 hours)

While these seem much more reachable they could be separated into even further, smaller goals, such as the course work required to obtain the masters degree and then even further into the tasks and assignments within each course. Each person’s need to break down their goals into bite sized bites will vary and for spoonies, like myself (there will be a post about spoonies in the future), sometimes we need to break our list all the way down to each tiny step. Stephen Duneier explains it well in his TedX Talk when he breaks down his goal to hike 33 trails down to each and every action, including putting down the remote.

Writing this post in just one of the tiny steps I take on my journey to reach my BAG. What is one of the steps you are taking to reach your BAG? Share it in the comments and subscribe to my blog for more content to help you live with mental wellness on your journey.

Tag: growth

Progress Isn’t Linear

Unpacking the BAG