My “Ambitious” Challenge for 2024. Want to Join Me?

I’ve taken on an Ambitious Challenge for 2024. Well, it’s actually not ‘ambitious’ in the conventional sense.

In fact, most would say it was the exact opposite. But if you feel spiritually adventurous, I invite you to join me.

I call it the No-Goals Challenge. Here’s why I’m doing it…

Anna, my youngest daughter, and I have a “God Box” ritual we do every January 1st. We write down our goals for the year on slips of paper. Then we read each one aloud as we drop them in our God Box, deliberately giving those goals up to the Divine.

But this January, for the first time in over 25 years, we didn’t do it.  We got distracted. Stuff came up. The day flew by. It never happened. No new goals went into the God Box.

I found it terribly unsettling. I’ve always believed the setting of goals is the lifeblood of success. I knew I should write mine down, but my heart wasn’t in it. Was I sabotaging myself?

Then it hit me. Maybe there’s a reason Anna and I didn’t set our goals this year.  Could one’s goals actually become one’s ceiling? Is it possible that God has greater plans for us that our little brains could ever conceive?

Or am I certifiably insane to think dispensing with specific goals could ever lead to greater success?

That’s when I recalled a quote from  A Course in Miracles:

A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own.

And that’s when I gave myself this Ambitious Challenge for 2024.

I declare that every day I will take time to s-l-o-w down and be still enough to hear the plans my higher wisdom has for me. Then, as the Course instructs, I will wait until I’m clear what should be done and proceed to do it. 

For an ambitious gal like me, this is one hell of a challenge. Do you think I’m crazy or will you join me? Tell me in the comments below.

Comments & Feedback

  • Julie Starr

    Barbara, Happy 2024! and thank you for continuing to be a mentor in my life. LOVE this article! I may join you with this.

    • barbara huson

      Awwwww Julie, I appreciate your kind words so much. I’m happy to have you join me in this. Sending big hugs and wishes for a very happy new year!

  • Idara

    This is the first year in I don’t how long that I have not done a year in review of the previous year or a formal list of resolutions…that quote from the Course of Miracles really struck me as I am quite the planner- lol…but one thing that 2023 made abundantly clear that plans can be demolished in the blink of an eye…so I am definitely more amenable than ever to surrendering my will. My peace of mind is just too important to be overly attached to any course of action. The God that got me through 2023 will the same God who knows what’s best for my 2024.

    • barbara huson

      What a beautiful line,Idara…”The God that got me through 2023 will the same God who knows what’s best for my 2024.” I’m writing that down on a post it note and putting it where I can see it…I LOVE it.

      There’s nothing wrong with being a planner, but as you wisely pointed out, things can change on a dime so it’s important to be flexible and willing to surrender to a greater intelligence. Thanks so much for your inspiring, heartfelt response! Happy new year!

  • Emma Bennett

    I am right there with you ladies on this one. Big time. 2023 was the year that all my life’s plans were in utter disarray — and I was used to being a professional project manager of 13 years. From childhood, I practically raised myself, left home at 15, put myself through university, and pretty much had plans, strategies, and ambitions up the wazoo all my life.

    🔨 “Could one’s goals actually become one’s ceiling?” ➡️ hit the nail on the head

    ✅ My brain’s ability to plan based on past experience and learning is no match for what universal intelligence can make possible
    ✅ My plans vs. God’s plans = no contest
    ✅ My default mode of overthinking, crank out ideas and strategies, muscling and forcing my way through situations has been exhausting
     ✅ My ideas of who to date, how to be successful, how to live a good life, etc. have truthfully been incredibly limited

    Last year, I read the entirety of ACIM and started studying the workbook, and letting things unfold. Things kept working out in ways I can not even begin to explain. So, I have been schooled!

    I, Emma, declare that every day I will take time to s-l-o-w down and be still enough to hear the plans my higher wisdom has for me. Then, as the Course instructs, I will wait until I’m clear what should be done and proceed to do it.

    Thank you for sharing this! I’ve read a couple of your books and love your perspective!

    Happy New Year!
    Emma

    • barbara huson

      Thank YOU, Emma, for everything you wrote. You are one wise woman. Your4 check points are right on and so smart and your declaration is POWERFUL! I sense 2024 is going to be a very good and prosperous year for you. I so appreciate you taking time to share your wisdom here.

  • Pat

    My “goals” are synchronous with you. My word for the year is REVISIT to refresh. To LOOK at what I have in front of me, not goals that are “out there,” and external. I will be cleaning out drawers, making sure my kitchen counter is cleaned off when I leave the house, drinking water, gaining a better understanding of my investment statements, organizing my recipes, deleting old photos etc. I’m excited to revisit.

    • barbara huson

      I’m excited for you too Pat! Taking care of what’s right in front of you can lead to some awesome, unexpected and wonderful places. May 2024 Be your best year yet. Thanks for sharing

  • Jill

    Barbara thanks for sharing this, it resonates to slow down and listen….mental planning hasn’t worked.

    • barbara huson

      That’s exactly what I’m trying to do more of too…slow down and listen. It just feels calmer and more peaceful. I wish you the best, Jill

  • Lisa

    Synchronicity! Just a couple days ago I came across a Big Think video that talked about the psychology of the effort:goal ratio that plays out in the brain. That when the brain perceives that the goal is beginning to exceed the effort, it’ll send signals to the body to just give up. So what follows is that simply “removing” a goal from one’s mindset can lead to more neural rewards (ie, serotonin) during the process of doing pretty much anything, be it a physical or spiritual pursuit. Which then begets more joyful experiences of effort. All this to say, I’m just beginning a “no goals” practice as well! Happy 2024!

    • barbara huson

      Thanks so much for sharing this, Jill. I’ve never heard this explanation about the goal ratio that plays out in the brain. I find this fascinating. And plan to explore it further. Wishing you a gratifying ‘no goals’ practice this year!

  • Sheryl Kosovski

    I love this Barbara. I have been finding that deciding each days tasks based on what my spirit is called to do has been the best thing I have ever done. Thanks for the reminder.

    • barbara huson

      Thanks Sheryl. I love that you’re into this practice too. Wishing you a wonderful 2024. I’m excited to see what evolves for you…I think it’s going to be amazing!

  • Alysondra

    Love this!! I’m going to join you in it. Thank you for sharing! xoxox

    • barbara huson

      Thank you, Alysondra….I’m so happy to hear from you and that you’re joining the party with me!!! Here’s to a wonderful 2024!

  • MANDI

    I always have some type of goal I achieve. I just did not pay much attention because I am always too busy to sit still. Ironically, I achieved a few changes in unexpected ways. This year, I am trying to give myself permission to sit still more and give myself more time to rest, when needed.

    • barbara huson

      I wish you luck with that beautiful intention to sit still and rest more often. I’ve found that while it can feel uncomfortable at first, especially when you’ve been a go-getting like I always was, but oh what a world of difference it makes, both in success I’ve achieved and the peace of mind I experience. I’d love to hear how it goes for you, Mandi

  • Monick Halm

    Thanks for this article. This year I actually made goals and really thought out how they might be accomplished. It actually feels really GOOD to have clarity and a plan. Last year was more of a no-goal year.

    I will still join you in daily asking God, God’s will for me and waiting for a clear answer. Slowing down and taking time to listen will always serve me.

    • barbara huson

      I think you’ve hit on something key, Monick–Balance. Setting goals while taking time to check in with spirit…what a powerful combo. Wishing you a wonderfully prosperous and fulfilling New Year. Big hugs xoxoxo

  • Selena Reames

    Barbara thank you for presencing me to this notion of a daily s-l-o-w practice. – it is so counter to all of our conditioning. And yet all of the striving does not feel like it is particularly aligned.
    I slowed down on joining an expensive ‘group’ mastermind and actually hit pause this week – a change in pattern for me. I am listening to your Rewire book right now and it is really resonating on a deep level. Thank you for your body of work that you have shared and who you are in the world. Much gratitude.

    • barbara huson

      Thank YOU so much for this wonderful post, Selena. You’re so right…slowing down runs totally counter to our conditioning. But it feels so good, so right when practiced. I’m still working on it. I think it’s so cool that you hit the pause button when you stopped long enough to tune into your intuition. Good work. And sincere thanks for your comments on my book…I’m so deeply grateful to hear you’re resonating with my last book. May this be your best year yet!

  • Becky

    I think you are brilliant and have tapped into something that we should all be paying attention too!

    • barbara huson

      Wow, thanks Becky, for that wonderful compliment. I agree…more of us need to pay attention to letting go of striving to make time for stillness!! Thanks so much for sharing.

  • Lori

    Thanks, Barbara. I have been feeling the same way using different words, but less “setting my goals,” and more “accepting my aliveness and seeing what more might come.” Something about the goal setting feels limiting to me AT THIS MOMENT in time. Maybe not forever, but I like taking time each day (or several times a day) to feel into my own strong force, and listening/feeling/waiting for what is coming through me that I could not have anticipated or planned.

    I’m with you in this challenge, sister!!

    • barbara huson

      Lori, I loved the way you expressed it–that at least for this moment in time you’re “accepting my aliveness and seeing what more might come.” Those words feel so right on to me, so powerful and true. I’m happy you’re on board. Keep me posted! And happy new year.

  • Sally

    Wow, I was just thinking this very thing yesterday! First of all, I had an aha moment that I am, indeed, ambitious. (I’m 60 and it’s just dawning on me – incredibly empowering.) Coupled with that I journaled about how I’ll co-create this year (that’s my word for 2024). And a huge piece of that is sitting still and listening. Slowing down, like you said. Thanks for you writing this – it’s a nod from the Universe, to be sure! 🙂

    • barbara huson

      I love when these type synchronicities happen, Sally. And I love that I can co-create with the Divine to send a message to you. I think if more of us ambitious women would learn to slow down and co-create with spirit, we’d find a lot more peace and joy in our work. Here’s to a joyous and successful new year!

  • Dionne Delone

    I say ride that wave Barb!

  • Lisa Miners

    HI Barbara
    I’ve been recommended by a friend to read your books as I have some big money ad abundance blocks, trying to get myself out of £4500 of debt. I have just ordered Prince Charmin Isn’t Coming as recommended. I know your work here is going to help me become money savvy at the age of 48! I was never told about the value of money, all those negative and limiting believes like, @Your so pretty you won’t have to work, marry a doctor of a lawyer and you’ll never need for money! My family had high hopes for me!!! that’s why I don’t have contact with them anymore.

    • barbara huson

      I sincerely hope my books help you, Lisa. I had the same upbringing as you…and I was 46 when I finally started to get my financial act together. It’s NEVER too late. Let me know how it goes if there’s any way I can support you in making 2024 the year you master money!

  • Amy

    I will ABSOLUTELY JOIN YOU, a d all of you above. Thank you. Deeply.
    Amy

    • barbara huson

      Thanks Amy…we seem to have a whole tribe of women eager to give up struggle and tune into spirit. Let me know how it goes…I’m really interested. Thanks for responding.

  • Linda Shelby

    Barbara, it’s been a while since I’ve “seen” you during Office Hour Zoom meetings and I miss you and the rest of the amazing women who I got to regularly “see”. Because of your Office Hour Zoom group, I “met” Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, who was a guest in May, 2023. Soon after, I engaged Kathleen as a coach, to help guide me on my longstanding career transition. For the past 2 or more years, I thought I wanted to become a Money Coach and I kept working with “mentors” who could help me reach that goal. In working with Kathleen, I realized that I was limiting myself by focusing so much on becoming a Money Coach. We agreed that it would be beneficial for me to meet with someone for a career assessment. I worked with Angela Sarver, Founder/CEO of EllieBlu Human Resources Consulting and did some assessments where I answered seemingly odd questions in order to find out what I wanted to be when I grow up. LOL! Angela consulted with me on the results of the assessment, letting me know what careers might be a good fit. When she mentioned working with a Non-Profit, doing fundraising and grant writing, I thought to myself, “No, that’s not me! The assessment got that one wrong!” Well, at the same time, God was saying, “No, that IS you and I have a Plan!” After a few, seemingly random but obviously ordained, events, I am now working at my children’s school which operates as a Non-Profit. I’m working in the Development (aka fundraising) Department and am excited to learn more about grant-writing. It has been a wild ride; one that I never would have planned for! One of my favorite songs these days is “Thank God I Do” by Lauren Daigle. The final line in the song is, “I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t know You. Thank God, I do.”
    I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for God and all of the wonderful mentors He has put in my life, including YOU. I’m excited to hear what God has in mind for you this year.
    Blessings!
    Linda Shelby

    • barbara huson

      How wonderful to hear from you Linda. I think of you so often…and I’ve missed seeing you. But I’m sooooooo excited to know you’ve found the perfect job for you! And it’s around your children’s school. Wow!!

      As I write this, I’m listening to Lauren Daigle’s song, and have full body chills. This is exactly how I want to live my life. Thank you so much for writing, for the update and for turning me on to this song.

      If you ever get to Port Townsend, I’d love to meet up again. Let me know…sending you big hugs and congrats of finding your work.

  • Lisa

    No, I don’t think you’re crazy for wanting to have a fly by the seat of your pants kind of year. Sometimes it can be a very fun, creative and romantic way to live. It can create new ideas 💡

    Usually, every year, I set intellectual, financial, career, home, travel& leisure, reading, emotional&spiritual, and physical intentions/goals. It stops me from wasting time and money and my life on things that don’t matter. I want to continue with this because there’s something I want to get out of the way over the next couple of years. It will not happen without setting these intentions, however I do intend to do what you’re doing a couple of years later!

    • barbara huson

      Thanks for your sweet comment, Lisa. I agree…there’s a place for goals. But I really liked what you said…sometimes you just need to get out of your way and see if there’s something even better the Universe has planned for you. I support whatever works for you!

  • Barbara Hynak

    I believe in setting goals because it helps me focus. It also gives me clarity about when to say no to others. At the same time, I stay open to the wisdom of the universe and change the goal accordingly to encompass that wisdom. I think there is room for both, as long as goals aren’t set in stone, and one listens.

    • barbara huson

      I think you’ve found the perfect balance, Barbara. Truth is, I have goals for this year. I just haven’t written them down. And I too want to stay open to a wisdom greater than my own. You’re right. There is truly room for both!

  • Rita

    I am joining you in this, Barbara! I am a planner, and I often make plans to make plans, so I know this will stretch me. Thank you for this insight and this challenge. Happy New Year and may we be open to hearing the plans delivered by the Divine!

    • barbara huson

      Thanks for joining me, Rita. It’ll be very interesting to check back at the end of the year and see what unexpected plans the Divine has for us. I wish you a very happy new year too.

  • Bernadette

    Definitely on board for this one, Barbara! As we move into uncharted territory on so many levels the voice of Spirit is coming through loud and clear if we only do what you have described – take time to listen. For me the voices are coming through nature and totems, whispers in the wind and unexpected encounters. Tenacity has gotten me through the worst, but now as we open to a new era a new energy is needed as we enter into the Light, the Fire energies of the next twenty years of the Wise Woman. I am on board!

    • barbara huson

      So wonderful to hear from you Bernadette. I love the how beautifully you expressed this…listening to the whispers that come in so many forms. Thanks for being on board with me…we can do this together!!!

  • Aileen

    I am with you Barbara. Sometimes a plan is another form of control. It takes immense trust and courage to know that you don’t have to pre-control or pre-plan anything and the universe will bring exactly what you are choosing in a way you couldn’t control even if you tried with all your might AND it will be exactly what YOU needed wanted and beyond your wildest dreams. I can relate to this on many levels. I am with you on this one!

Use The Form Below to Share Your Feedback And Opinion

Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

Top Back To Top
Site Design Rebecca Pollock
Site Development Alchemy + Aim