Today will be the final post for this goal setting series.
We all have a vision of what a better life looks like for us. The challenge is creating sustainable changes that enhance our life, rather than ones that control and dominate it.
Here are some things to consider when making a plan to set goals that stick.
Step 1) Break it down.
Say your goal is to drink more water. Let’s start with 64 ounces a day. That might seem overwhelming at first. We’ll break it down.
If lunch is midday, then let’s try for 32 ounces by lunch time and then 32 ounces by dinner. We can break it down even farther. Maybe try for 8 ounces first thing in the morning, before leaving the house. Then we want to have another 8 ounces with our morning snack. We have 16 ounces left for the morning. Between snack and lunch, we can have another 8 and our final 8 for the morning with our lunch.
For the afternoon, we can have 8 ounces the 2nd part of the workday, 8 ounces on the way home, 8 ounces with dinner, and 8 ounces before bed.
Again, no matter what your goal is, start where you are. If 64 ounces is too overwhelming, maybe try 40 ounces or 32, or whatever amount is just a slight stretch over where you are now.
Step 2) Have a backup plan.
This is really important. The longer we are together as a family of 5, the more I realize that there is no such thing as a “typical week.” I’m usually out of the office and with my kids during two weekdays. Almost every week, someone has an appointment or something else that needs to be done that is out of the “normal.”
When I meet with clients, we will talk about their “typical” day. But, life happens, and you may find that a “typical” day isn’t so typical after all. So how does that affect the plan? We might need to find backups.
I’ve talked before about how I really enjoy movement. Often, on work days, I’ll walk at the park near my office on my lunch break. But I do NOT like cold weather and obviously, rain or snow would impact that. So, I have a backup plan. I’ll do a YouTube workout most of the time, or I will do a workout from one of my new favorite obsessions MommaStrong – just simple 15 minute workouts that I can do in the comfort of my office. They get my blood pumping so I’m energized for the 2nd half of my day.
Step 3) Bend the rules from time to time.
Flexibility is really important in nearly every aspect of life. Unyielding rules suck the fun and spontaneity out of life. It’s great to set goals and to work on self improvement – easing stress, feeling better – but you’re not a robot. We need to be okay with the realization that we might not hit the mark every day, as difficult as that is. When I talk with a client who is unable to be flexible in food selection, that is a red flag for me.
Like I mentioned in step 2, movement is really important to me. But if there is a day, say at work, that I am so behind that I need to use that time I would usually walk to chart or return messages instead, I can accept that it was only one day out of my life. We will all have days when we are sick, or our kids are sick, or we don’t sleep well, or the basement floods – days that checking off our goal will put undue stress on us. That’s okay. We need to learn the skill of flexibility.
I’d love to hear from you…
Which of these principles are most helpful for you, or what other tips have you found helpful to set goals that stick? Thanks for reading!