Setting goals to change your life

Years ago, when I first began my chiropractic practice as a shy, introverted woman literally afraid of her own shadow, I was introduced to the concepts of prosperity, positive thinking and goal setting. Up until then, I thought successful people were born that way, it just happened for them. That it was an accident of nature, some were lucky and some were not. And, I wasn’t sure how I’d achieve it in my life.

I had just graduated chiropractic school, and a friend took me to a goal setting workshop, revolutionizing my life. The teacher was Foster Hibbard, a student of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich.  This remarkable book changed my life, inspired me in ways I couldn’t imagine, and gave me insight into how the rich got richer.

This was my first exposure to understanding that one can control the outcome of their life, their destiny, and their day by through their thoughts. The power of the mind, the idea that creativity can flow from merely thinking and directing one’s thoughts just thrilled me.

During that day, as my insights improved, Foster continued to excite the group by teaching us several simple steps. The first was the power of enthusiasm to fuel our day and to allow good things to come our way as our thoughts create our reality. The things were we were thinking about was what we would get. In other words, all my worry and fear created in the end, was more worry and fear.

Setting and achieving goals takes a focused intention for success. We had to know what we wanted to achieve in five years, one year, six months, down to this very month. He asked us to describe our future in detail, including where we wanted to live, the house, the family, the cars we wanted to drive and more. He insisted we needed to create this on the astral levels, in our mind’s eye, so strongly it would in fact become reality.

Foster was so convinced these tools would work that he guaranteed us results. I took the bait and decided to give him my “best test” - the hardest most impossible goals I could imagine.

As a very recent graduate from the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, my list was great. I had just moved from LA up to the Bay Area, because my visions had suggested I would find my fame and future in San Francisco. I needed an internship in a chiropractic clinic, a place to live, and to study for my chiropractic boards. I did not believe any of this would work for me. Maybe it would work for others, but surely not for me. Thus, I decided to test the teacher, by putting my hardest, most impossible goal as number one.

1.      “I want a beautiful spacious, sunny apartment overlooking the San Francisco Bay, in the Marina District, and I don’t want to pay any rent.”   By when did I want this goal completed? “Now,” I wrote.

2.      To pass my chiropractic exams and receive my Doctor of Chiropractic Degree in several months time.

3.      A red convertible sports car so I can ride about with the top down and feel my success.

That night I was invited to a trendy party in SF, and met a very interesting man named Jeff. His girlfriend had just moved out of his apartment in the Marina district of San Francisco. By the end of the evening, Jeff had invited me to move in, rent free, while I studied for my boards, in exchange for buying the food.  As a bachelor he almost never ate at home, so I was extremely fortunate. 

I lived at Jeff’s home for six months until I took my Chiropractic Boards. While I was there, I practiced the visualizations I had learned. I had a job as a chiropractic intern at the time, and I borrowed my boss’s license. I copied it, whited out his name, and put in mine, and made several copies of the license, taping them to my mirrors, my desk, and my refrigerator. Everywhere I looked I saw confirmation I had passed my test and received my license.

The day of the test arrived, and I was a nervous wreck. It was an all day oral exam, where you are sent from room to room to be questioned on your skills. I entered the room where I was required to show Mastery of Chiropractic Adjustment techniques. The examining doctor asked me to adjust a bone that was not in the spine. I panicked. I started squealing, “they never taught us anything like that, they only taught us the spine,” or gibberish. I so shocked him that he tried to calm me down and gave me a different part of the body to adjust and treat - one I had mastered.

I passed the test. Unbelievable. To this day, I am sure the fact I had visualized myself passing every day was the reason he gave me a new question. That never happens, but it did for me, because I had set the intention to pass and receive the license. Passing my chiropractic boards in this fashion convinced me, goal setting worked.

But the clincher occurred six months later. I decided to buy a Fiat sportscar, I walked into the dealership intending to buy a fancy ivory white Fiat convertible, white because it felt far more elegant than the red I had thought about months before. On the showroom floor, I pick out the white one, ready to sign the deal, when the salesman refused to sell it to me. Instead, he kept pointing to the red one, telling me he had this feeling, a strong urge, that I needed the red car and he was not to sell me the white one.

Well, he was right. On my goal setting list, there it was, a red sports car. I was going to buy a white one, but because I had set that intention clearly, I ended up with the red one - the one I had originally set out to get.

Throughout the years, I have discovered that when one sets their intentions, charts their course and has a destination, they can achieve their dreams and goals. An unfocused life, creates more chaos, and less chances of achieving the outcome you desire. In my work as a consultant, I help people remember their dreams, their visions, their goals, because as that evolves, the larger picture emerges. It’s a relief to understand why you are here, and what your purpose is..

I had a recent chance to test these principles. Two years ago, I was faced with moving from LA to the desert. I was scared to come here to the valley, its vastness, open skies and desert climate intimidated me.

Thus, while driving to Desert Hot Springs, to look at the house I found for rent, I created my updated list. To confirm that I should move to the desert, I needed the following items in the house.

1.      The house needed to have a piano, because I love playing. I asked myself “why a piano Joan? You know that’s an impossible request.” I answered myself saying that I had a friend with a baby grand piano in their rental, and that they didn’t even play the piano so my request was more than reasonable. I would accept any piano. I insisted I would not move unless the house had the piano. 

2.      The house needed an air-conditioned garage as a studio. What are the odds a house here in the desert would have an air conditioned garage? Slim I thought, but still I put this down as a necessity.

3.      The house needed a doggie door for my beloved companion, Bear.

4.      I needed a very flexible landlady who didn’t care about my financial woes, and would just look at me, love me, and let me, Bear and all my art move in without question.

I was certain the house would not meet these requirements and I was safe, I would not have to move to the desert.

Well, the joke was on me. I walk into the house, and immediately the piano against the living room wall, jumped out at me. And although it was out of tune, it’s a working piano. And you guessed it, not only was the garage air-conditioned, it had a row of work tables along the side. The landlady was flexible, and Bear escaped day one through the doggie door.

So, here’s the lesson. What you think about, where you focus your intention is really what you get this life. It’s like ordering up eggs and toast at the café. You ask for eggs and toast and that’s what you get. When you ask your guides, or you set your goals clearly, order up what you want, and set your focused intentions. In my ebook,  Check out 30 Days to a Miraculous Life by Dr Joan Hangarter, I show you how to step into destiny and create the life you have wanted.

Watch, and you will see, that by shifting your focus to what you want rather than what you don’t want, you will achieve results far beyond your expectations.

This is what I do with my clients. What is it you want to achieve, to be, to accomplish, not just now, but throughout your life. What is it that would make your heart sing, change your life, and fill you with enthusiasm? That’s the bottom line. We can be enthusiastic, reach our goals, and leap over tall buildings, if we can feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Try it, you’ll like it.

About Joan Hangarter, D.C.:

Join The weekly Angel Essence Radio Show Live with Dr Joan of Angels each Monday evening, 10PM EST. http://joanofangels.com/home/angel-essence-radio-dr-joan-angels/

Oracle, Empath, Intuitive, Healer, Visionary, Speaker, Mentor, Artist, Earth Messenger Channel, Chiropractor, Author

Joan of Angels, also known as Dr Joan Hangarter, D. C., is a spiritual teacher, soul artist, intuitive coach and author, who helps people remember who they are, overcome their challenges, and step into their destiny.  When you work with Joan you will find your visions clear, obstacles dissolve, and renewed courage to follow your callings.

In 2013, artist Joan Hangarter heard the call of the Earth Messengers, ‘Paint us and we will come.” An occasional painter since 2000, Dr. Hangarter had been a successful chiropractor, an author and founder of The Miracle Makers Club.  But in 2013, she dropped everything and began to paint transformative paintings of angels she calls Earth Messengers. 

“The Earth Messengers are here to bring healing of the heart, and remind us, that we, too, are powerful beings with the potential to live a larger life. The process of painting these Earth Messengers begins with a vision, a dream, and through a meditative process, the paint brush literally moves itself, and the beings direct their presentation.”

Her paintings are imbued with positive transformational messages from etheric beings that Dr. Joan shares as she channels as an oracle, medium and a painter—earning her the affectionate moniker ‘Joan of Angels.’

 “The message of ‘Paint us and we will come,’ is part of a universal truth for all of us, with a larger theme of believe, and your truth, your life, will manifest.” Explore the Earth Messengers Gallery. Or shop for prints, wearable angel art, and more at the Joan of Angels Shop.

These messengers bring unconditional love, wisdom, guidance, and most of all healing for the world. These paintings are unique portals to experiencing the divine. Welcome home.

Joan works as an oracle/intuitive mentor doing both private and group sessions. She can be found most days in her Desert Heart Sanctuary where you are invited to have a private sessions with Joan of Angels and/or experience the Earth Messengers themselves, and find your personal guide.  You can find out more at  www.joanofangels.com

Hangartar’s Book:

In my ebook,  Check out 30 Days to a Miraculous Life by Dr Joan Hangarter, I show you how to step into destiny and create the life you have wanted.

Watch, and you will see, that by shifting your focus to what you want rather than what you don’t want, you will achieve results far beyond your expectations.

This is what I do with my clients. What is it you want to achieve, to be, to accomplish, not just now, but throughout your life. What is it that would make your heart sing, change your life, and fill you with enthusiasm? That’s the bottom line. We can be enthusiastic, reach our goals, and leap over tall buildings, if we can feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Try it, you’ll like it.

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