Sometimes you don’t know where or how to go about finding or setting a meaningful goal, let alone actually doing it. That’s where a new researchinformed approach comes in...
Think about the last time you set a goal. Did you aim for something you actually wanted or – be honest – did you choose to go after this ambition because you felt pressured to? If you’re guilty of the latter, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
‘Particularly for women, hopes are often influenced by other people’s expectations or what our peer group is doing,’ says Sarah Lagrotteria, director of Just Bloom School, a creativity hub that teaches businesses how to use narrative, theory–based techniques to gain new perspective and solve problems. Society tends to influence your goals way too much, and to counteract that conditioning, Lagrotteria teaches ‘path finding’ – a science-backed ambition-setting technique from Project Narrative at Ohio State University.
It’s a technique that allows you to tap into your subconscious desires rather than spotlighting surface-level hopes. Path finding uses the same image-sourcing process as techniques such as vision boarding and manifestation, but it challenges your preconceived notions to find creative new angles. This can help you uncover a meaningful direction and inspire you to achieve a goal you thought impossible. Let’s walk through it...
Act with emotion, not intention
As with vision boarding, you’ll select images and texts from magazines (hello!), newspapers, etc. Instead of gravitating toward visual representations of what you want your life to be, rip out what elicits a strong emotional response – without analysing your choices, says Lagrotteria. The goal is to take intention out of the equation.
Ignore aesthetics
In the age of Instagram, where beauty reigns supreme, ‘we have a tendency to want to grab the pretty’, says Lagrotteria. But don’t focus on creating a visually cohesive board. Select images that speak to you instead of trying to curate a collection. Tru
