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As you are aware, there are two sides to everything; good and bad, positive and negative, yin and yang, action and inaction, force and allow, rigid and flexible. In all of life there is a balance between the two polarities, sides or aspects that must be mediated in your pursuit of happiness and a truly harmonious in life. In your goal setting activities this balance must be considered or you may find yourself severely restricting what is possible for you.

Remember that as you are envisioning and deciding on a goal, that visualization is based on your present awareness and knowledge. What about all the possibilities that you are not yet aware of, do you want to limit yourself from something better than what you can see right now?

No matter how you believe about how the overall power behind the universe participates in your life, I think you will admit that frequently things do seem to happen and opportunities arise that your were not originally aware of when you start taking action. You need to have an open mind about these possibilities to readily recognize them when they arise.

For example, let's say you take your car in to get repaired because you have discovered oil leaking from the cylinder head gasket. Now stopping the leak from your car engine is your goal, so you tell the mechanic to change the head gasket in order to stop the leaking. Then after the mechanic removes the cylinder head he discovers that it is warped and that is the real reason why the gasket was leaking.

This is a previously unknown opportunity presented for you to choose an ultimately better course of action than what you had originally planned. Repairing or replacing the head will lead to a better lasting result than just replacing the gasket. This is a simple example, I'm sure you have some of your own, meeting someone who has a fresh idea, and 'accidentally' stumbling upon something unexpected.

That example can magnify two aspects about goals that are important. First, you must take action first in order to find the best outcome. You don't discover gold without somehow looking for it. And second, that you must be open to the new possibilities that come up as you proceed with the goal.

Isn't this kind of openness to whatever possibility may arise exactly how 'science' looks at things? Scientists begin to look at things with the knowledge they presently have all while being open and receptive of new possibilities. Actually they seek the unknown.

You have been correctly told to have a clearly defined goal, with a powerful compelling emotionally backed picture. This gives you something appealing to act on plus a definite request to the universe of what you want.

Opportunities for something better may come up, and you must be ready willing and receptive to them while you are proceeding with determination towards your vividly pictured goal.

The key is balancing between a clearly defined vision and allowing yourself to be open to receiving something different which may be beneficial for you.

Sometimes as we are so strictly focused to the point of having tunnel vision, we actually block what good may come our way from the universe. If you think that you must make everything happen yourself, you are potentially blocking yourself from the free flow of universal energy and opportunity . The challenge is to be both definite in what you want while at the same time be open to possibilities you may not be aware of, that are an even more appropriate outcome than what you had envisioned.

You can't just sit back and wait for wonderful things to happen, you still must put yourself in the position for luck, good fortune or opportunity. You must take action, moving towards your envisioned goal with what you currently know. If you stay inactive in your present place the new opportunities will not be visible, and they won't be until your proceed in their direction with your known goals.

You can enhance your likelihood of being available for new opportunities when you elicit your power of positive thinking and turn your goal into a positive affirmation. State clearly what you want with your goal as a positive statement about something that already exists. Then add the words, "or something better" at the end of your affirmation.

I know that positive thinking and affirmations alone will not 'make' your goals or your big dream come about, but nothing is likely with out them! These actions have an effect on your attitude and perception, which support your goal getting efforts and recognition of unique opportunities.

Another important factor to successful goal realization is having an overall purpose, reason -- a powerful why behind your goals. When the goal fits into a bigger picture your motivation will be intense and you will be more likely to see those possible variations that fit into that picture. Having a strong foundation of who you are and what you are doing here will add self-confidence and motivation to your daily goal activities. You will also be more open to acting on possible alterations of your initial goal.

Balance your definiteness of purpose with an open acceptance of unknown possibilities and you will see your goals expand in support of your purpose.

Copyright 2006 John Halderman