Dec 29, 2020

 by Susa H van

When all else fails, lower your standards….

Lol imagine if we went through life thinking like that !!!

I am quite set in my ways and I like routine and structure, so my morning routine always looks the same.

Wake up, make coffee, hop back into bed and read 2 emails…..Yes I know, reading emails first thing in the morning is not advised by all the clever people. The difference is that these two emails are from the same 2 people every morning and they actually set me up for success for the day and motivate me.

So with the looming of 2021 on the horizon, it was not surprising to find that both emails talked about goal setting. Asking the questions: “Where are you planning to go with your life in 2021?”.

This got me thinking again and wondering: “How do you set a good goal and how do you make sure that you follow and pursuit that goal during 2021 and not lose track?”.

Let’s start at the beginning

1. What is a goal?

According to the Oxford Dictionary - “something that you hope to achieve”

2. It is important to distinguish between life goals and health goals.
3. Setting up goals - It is important to set up short-term goals as well as a long-term goal. Setting up short-term goals is like taking baby steps towards the great challenge you want to accomplish.

Basically, you need to figure out WHY you want this goal and HOW you are going to get there and WHAT you are going to do to get there and HOW long is it going to take you.

You need a plan and you need to sit down and take the time to write this out.

I love this quote.

Many times we set goals that we don’t achieve as there is way too much room for failure or change or no commitment. We have a start and a finish but no plan or map on how to get there.

Let’s focus on the HOW, small easy achievable steps. For example:

My long-term goal in 2018 was to lose 35 pounds.

I set up short-term goals to help achieve this.

One of my first short-term goals was not to stand and eat. I had to do that for 1 week and it stopped me from picking. And now writing this I think it is time to revisit that goal again….

So what was my next step?

1. I wrote it on a piece of paper and stuck it on my fridge.
2. I made sure to read it every day.
3. I reminded myself of it every time I went into the kitchen.

The next short-term goal was to pack food for work.

1. First step was to make sure I stock up on groceries, especially fruit, vegetables and easy to grab protein
2. Then making sure that I pack my lunch while I am preparing supper or make extra supper so I can pack that the leftovers for the next day.

Small goal by small goal, step by step, I started chipping away at those 35 pounds, my long-term goal. And slowly but surely you will get there, lots of small steps lead to giant gains.

Change the picture on the screen of your mind. Are you letting discouraging images keep you from your best?  Use your imagination for the good, to create vision, to make you hopeful, to fill you with believing in yourself and achieving all your goals.

Here is to 2021 may it be the best year ever!