Part 10 of 12
A Practical Guide to Prosperous Living
J Douglas Bottorff
The conclusionistic model assumes it is a lack of something that stands between you and your happiness. You must, according to the logic of this model, strive to acquire that thing if you are to be happy. The evolutionistic model, on the other hand, begins with the assumption that you are already complete, that the state of happiness is not induced through the acquisition of external things, but is, rather, evolved or brought forth from your own inner depths.
The condition of unhappiness is really nothing more than the result of trying to replace a sleeping aspect of your true nature with an artificial substitute. This substitute can come in many forms: a particular role, a career position, a relationship, money and, in fact, any external thing from which you are attempting to derive your security, your power, your peace of mind or your identity. Unhappiness is the result of clinging to things that are less than you are at the level of your native soul.
Because of this, some people, in the name of evolving higher spiritual ideals, denounce goal setting as a manipulative exercise of the personal will. This is unfortunate, for it is through the activity of setting goals that you can consciously and positively express your deeper nature and affect your circumstantial tendencies to reflect this more natural aspect of who you are. It is not the practice of following your own will that gets you into trouble. The trouble comes when you use your will to protect your weaknesses and to avoid the discomforts of change and transition that often accompany the expansive inner work that is needed.
This brings us to a very important point that I believe is often missed in the goal-setting process. Understanding where you are trying to go with your goal-setting activities is the most important key to getting there. I say this because there is often a vast difference between our stated goals and our actual goals.