Dear Readers,
A few months ago I set a few goals for myself.
- Read more.
- Drink water every day
- Go to the gym three times a week
- Meditate once a day
All of these seem simple, right?
Well, not really. The reading one has gone right out the window so then I had three goals
Read more.- Drink water every day
- Go to the gym three times a week
- Meditate once a day
Drink water every day. (I have an accountability partner for that one!)
Speaking of accountability- I also joined a No-Spendtember group to help me motivate myself to NOT spend any money for the month of September except for gas, groceries, and essential items. It’s amazing how much you just spend (even though I am pretty thrifty) without THINKING about it. I am keeping a running tally of how much I have wanted to spend but have not spent. Drum roll, please! It’s Day 5……
I am up to 35.00 not spent. That could change tomorrow, I might just have to buy something, and that is okay, the goal is to be intentional and THINK about it, because in my experience, when you do that, you spend 5.00 not 10.00 and so on.
Another goal, was to go to the gym three times a week- Well, that was working and then the whole family got sick so as we all recovered, we spent less time at the gym and then no time at the gym.
Once upon a time, I lost 75 pounds and this was the before and after. I love how I look in both pictures, and the one on the right helps me FEEL the accomplishment.
As of two weeks ago, I headed back to the gym but it was once a week, not three times and I am satisfied with that, for now. I will eventually get the three times a week going again but it’s not where I am, for now.
Meditate once a day- There is an application for that, it motivates me by giving me a “consistency reward” I take great pride in seeing the number of minutes and days I have accomplished in my meditation goal.
I am all for goals and achieving them but sometimes we doom ourselves by having too many goals to start. Or, we have really vague goals like “read more” or “eat healthier”
What does that mean?
For example, I said I was going to drink water every day for three months before it actually became a reality. I have to say that now that it is, drinking water gives me more energy and I have noticed my skin is clearer.
It took almost 6 months of going to the gym to consistently to get me back up to twice a week and then finally three times a week. Then I had a breakdown in that goal because we all got sick and it became more important to NOT go to the gym and rest our bodies.
It’s amazing, Rest is the thing that helps the MOST, and it’s what we try, LAST.
Next goal, meditate every day. The meditation was easier because it’s a great way to wind down my day and really helps me to relax, relax, relax as my mother of choice would say. I love headspace, but there are multiple options out there.
The reading is a nice idea but it was an ill-defined goal.
Read what? For how long? Why? I love to read, so I have started to build it into my lunch breaks. I can set a timer and read career growth articles or my (very much not a career growth) book for 10 minutes. It may take another month for me to actually get it on a good schedule and cadence and that is still progress.
Always remembering, the goal is progress, not perfection.
The gurus will tell you to “shoot for the moon and you will land among the stars.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, I take issue with it because it’s really non-specific, it’s not measurable and you have no idea if you “did it”.
I think all goals should be Smart- I didn’t make this up, but here is my breakdown:
Smart- You have a handle on it- you know what it looks like to go after it
Measurable- Can you measure it? If your goal is to lose weight, what’s the result you are going for to see measure success- inches? pounds? You have to decide.
Actionable- Is there an action to take? If you want to write a book, how many pages will you write? A day? A week? A month?
Relevant- Is it relevant to your personal mission statement ? Well let’s see-
“I am a mom, speaker, and activist passionately committed to inspiring others to live their best life. ” (yep, it checks that box, so it’s relevant)
Time- bound- Put a deadline on it. I will have (goal/measure) _______ by ______ (date)
Just started to feel real, didn’t it? As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry says,
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
By the way, if you don’t have a personal mission statement, I highly recommend you get one, that way as you work to make decisions about what to say yes to and what to pursue, you run it through that filter and then it gets a whole lot clearer what you need to say “yes” and “no” to, when opportunities are presented to you.
Remember, your goal is progress, not perfection. Don’t get lost in the lie that you have to do it perfectly, because you WILL fail, it’s that simple, it’s whether you will get back up and try again, I think you will. I believe in you!
Think About It.
Haston Helping Hands 