Setting Goals is Easy; Following Through? Not so much.

My goal this week was to wake up at 7:10am Monday through Friday, get right into the shower, eat a healthy breakfast and make it into work on time. It’s now Tuesday; I managed to roll out of bed by 7:34am and with my stomach rumbling, made it into work two minutes late. Yesterday was not much better. I also started writing this blog last week, but hey, who’s counting...

I’ll admit right now, I’m not the most motivated person in the morning. I love my bed. I love my pillows and blankets. I love how the sunshine streams through the windows and when my cat comes in for her early morning cuddle. Unlike my boyfriend who is able to annoyingly bounce out of bed at 6:30am on a Saturday so that he can spend the day chopping wood or building a deck, I’d much rather snooze for an additional few hours.

We are motivated to set goals for various reasons. I’d like to wake up earlier in the morning before work because I know that I always feel better when my brain has had time to adjust to the activities of the day. I’d also like to play guitar like Sheryl Crow, knit myself a bright yellow scarf and refinish my cupboards. However, my guitar is sitting in a corner collecting dust, my scarf looks more like a dish cloth and I’m hoping that if I wait long enough, my cupboards will come back into style.

Therefore, the question is this; how do we get from setting a goal to achieving that goal?

In order to achieve a goal, you must first have a purpose. Why is this goal important to you? Are you motivated by your own wants or are you attempting to be motivated by outside sources? We are brought up to not be selfish. Our parents have taught us to think about other people before we act. Although a nice thought, if we lived by this principle, nothing would get done. In order to achieve goals, you must be sure that you are doing it for yourself first and everyone else second. This is not to say that you don’t consider how the outcomes of you achieving such a goal will impact other people, but you must be the first beneficiary. It is human nature and the ego that has put this natural rule into place and there is no getting around it.

Therefore, I set myself a goal two weeks ago. I have always wanted to get into really good shape. The problem with getting into really good shape is that I’d have to exercise and eat healthier. This objective has been a topic of numerous New Year’s resolutions but with little success. I felt motivated the first few weeks but soon after I’d be tempted to head home after work rather then hit the gym.

This time I’ve decided to do something differently and broken this goal down into smaller steps so that it doesn’t seem so daunting. My final goal is to get into good shape which includes more then just exercise and healthy eating. I am talking about feeling good mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. In order to do that I must:
- Eat healthier (that is an obvious one)
- Work out 4 times a week
- Cut out caffeine
- Limit salt intake
- Limit sugar intake
- Take extra care to pamper myself daily
- Read more often
- Take up yoga
- Learn to meditate (and practice)

The best way to tackle this project is to split these steps into two different groups, one group being the more difficult tasks to achieve (work out 4 times a week, eat healthier, etc) and the other group not so difficult (limiting salt intake, take extra care to pamper myself daily, etc). I’m already two weeks into it and I’m doing pretty well. In my more difficult group I’ve been able to cut out caffeine (yay for me!) and I have also been to the gym 5 times a week for the past two weeks. Not a bad start. I’ve also been finding time to read more.

I’d like to encourage you to try this on your own. Keep in mind that if you expect perfection, you’re bound to be disappointed and as Yoda said, “Do or do not.... there is no try”. Which one will you be?