*Please note- this blog post was written during my time at Brain Fit Academy Inc. I have since continued this amazing work under my own company- Brain FUNdamentals LLC. I hope you enjoy!

Goal.

It's number 2 on our "schedule" for sessions with clients- right after our Brain Gym® settling in activity called PACE. 

Why is a goal the first thing we start with after we settle in to the session? We set goals because- you can't change what you don't acknowledge.

Let me say that again. You can't change, what you don't acknowledge.  

If you want to make a change- any kind of change, the first thing you need to do is acknowledge that there's something there to change, right?

Now, I will tell you, that sometimes setting goals- especially with kids- can be challenging.  Some kids can find it very difficult to come up with meaningful goals.  And so, I help them.  

• We might talk about what's going on in their life. 

• We might talk about events they have coming up that might make for a good goal. 

• We might talk about things in their life that are important to them, such as sports or hobbies and come up with a goal around that. 

• And sometimes, the goal might just be to work on a particular reflex, or around a toy- such as "How many times can I hit the ping-pong ball without stopping?"

Whatever shape the goal takes, we always have one because, of course- we can't change what we don't acknowledge!

So, now you may be thinking- great, you have a goal. Now what? What do you do once you have a goal? 

Well- that's where the rest of the session comes in of course!  Once we have a goal, we figure out what we need to do to organize the brain and body around that goal.  

Do we need to address a reflex? Do we need to look at something different perhaps, like one of the 6 emotional needs? Do we need to look deeper, at belief systems for example? This stage is what we call "noticing" and it deserves its own blog post for sure!

Either way, we need a goal so that the work (and play!) we do during the session helps the client to be prepared for that goal. 

To be ready to try it-

Take it on- 

Change something-

Whatever it is that's needed to fit that goal.

And so, our session then becomes centered around that goal. The goal is the intention (if you will) for the session.  We "notice", "work", "rest" and "play", all with a conscious intention of addressing the goal we set at the beginning. Everything revolves around that goal.

As we move through the session, the client (the child, teen or adult) is guided to the appropriate activities through muscle checking (AKA applied kinesiology). Or, depending on the client, it might be by just letting the client choose activities that they are "drawn to". 

But, whatever activities we figure out, we always, always, move our bodies.  We move during "work", we move during "play" and we move during "rest". Specific, intentional movements with that goal in mind.

Now, depending on the client, the results of addressing a goal might get at some deep rooted emotions, like the time I talk about in my previous post titled "There's Smiles but There's Also Tears". In these cases, we may see a very significant shift in a client. A big jump or change in their treatment- perhaps even a "tipping point".

And sometimes, it might just be that we see a difference in how well the client is able to take on the toy challenge they came up with.  Or maybe, we notice how addressing that goal helped them during the week and we discuss it during the next session. In any case, there is still a goal, and there is still change.

Goals are important at Brain Fit.  Really important. And acknowledging that there's something that needs changing is the first step.

After all....you can't change what don't acknowledge.

And without change, we would just stay stuck- and who wants that?!?