The Transformation Path is the Goal
George V. Marino CPC, CMMT January 30, 2023
The fourth aspect of goal setting and the follow-through process is the transformation path. Firmly rooted and aware of the prior three paths and their elements, we now turn to the transformation itself, a shift from being based in thought, emotions, and sense perceptions to making your home in the true nature of mindfulness: conscious awake presence. Any real goal worth pursuing in business will have this feature—one that is enduring and has roots in the cosmos. Thomas Berry, a cultural historian, believes that the history of creativity has led the cosmos, through its most recent creators, the human species, to the place of transformation where we now find ourselves. It is not easy work, but then again, nothing worthwhile ever is. There will be plenty of shadow work as transformation happens in you, but we have each other to offer support and guidance in one way or another.
The thirteenth-century Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi, audaciously expresses one type of transformation, one of the sacred fool who doesn’t play by the rules or standards of everyday culture, when he writes:
Conventional Knowledge is death
To our souls, and it is not really ours,
We must become ignorant
Of what we’ve been taught,
And be, instead, bewildered…
Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
I have tried prudent planning
Long enough. From now
On, I’ll be mad.
Rumi has tried the traditional methods of goal setting and follow through and realized it is a kind of death to the soul. He points us to think “out of the box” when he says to “destroy your reputation,” for only then can you truly nourish your soul.
Beyond Balancing The Books p. 184