What’s your goal for today? How about for the next 4 weeks? Six months? Do you have one? Ha, trick question! Did you fall for it? You shouldn’t have just one. You should have more than one lined up.
Without a goal, it’s easy to work on auto-pilot and just walk through our workouts, meals, and other activities. There’s nothing really to push us since we don’t have something specific we’re aiming for. Most of us know that part and have a goal in mind. Some of us even have a plan to reach the goal. I want to get into that dress for the wedding coming up or I am going to run the entire 5K Race by Thanksgiving.
But what happens when you get there? There are all kinds of expectations at the finish line but we don’t stop to think about the possible abyss on the other side. This happened to me after I did the contest last year, and I’ve seen posts on Twitter with this same phenomena when people reach goal weight on Weight Watchers or get into the dress for the big event.
You focus everything on that goal. You work yourself silly. You get everyone involved to support you. Goal day arrives and tah dah! You did it! Now what? Life goes on. There’s usually no miraculous change and there are often strange feelings that you didn’t expect. I felt almost lost mentally, and was completely not expecting the let down feelings that came. I even reasoned with myself that I shouldn’t be feeling this way because I’d done what I set out to do.
Confusion over what do I do now? The answer is simple. You set another goal. Ideally as I mentioned above, you already have another goal lined up and just roll into aiming for that one. By laying out several goals you can work hard to reach one, have a celebration and take a short break before working towards the next goal. Rinse and repeat with each goal.
I’m not specifically talking about fitness goals or health goals here. These apply to life goals too. If you’re working on a certification, have something lined up to do after you get it. If you are relocating to another city, plan a goal for after your move. Combine your goal themes in your plan with different achievement dates. This is your life, have fun with it. Live by your own rules and set up your goal plans to fit you.
- Run an entire 5K in July
- Complete a photography certification in August
- Read one book each week in September
- Lose 4 lbs and not eat any candy in October
- Complete all holiday shopping in November
Very different goals with different degrees of difficulty. Yet by laying them out like this you have something to focus on when one is complete. Not only does it help to avoid the lost feeling after the celebration, but you get a long list of life accomplishments along the way. 🙂
Tell me about some of your goals. What are some you have lined up?
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