Does a track record of letting your determination ebb leave you feeling like you can’t reach your goal? Maybe you want to compete in a triathlon but you’ve never finished the 1-miler or you want to read War & Peace but can’t sit through the Sunday morning funnies. Maybe you want to eat more vegetables but haven’t had peas since they came out of a jar and they approached you accompanied by the sounds of a human-voice-propelled airplane. All is not lost. Here are a few helpful hints that can help you reach the go-getter level.
1) Stop just dreaming about your goal and start working towards it. Don’t stop dreaming; stop ONLY dreaming. You cannot gain momentum by standing still. So take the first step: buy running shoes, read the introduction, get a vegetable peeler. You’ll start to gain forward-moving energy – physically and/or mentally and/or emotionally – and likely enjoy the pride that will give you enough to keep you going.
2) Start keeping a log. You don’t have to be a type-A (a la moi) to enjoy noting your achievements with lists and records. When you run your first mile, finish the first chapter, or make your first sautéed spinach side dish – and enjoyed it! – jot it down. The act of documentation provides a) proof b) tomorrow’s encouragement and c) eventual bragging rights. You can also easily track your progression which is something to be proud of in it’s own right.
3) Avoid the all-or-nothing approach. We’re human and we make mistakes. Naturally we are impulsive. So if you miss a day of training, don’t feel like reading this week or really just want the hamburger sans lettuce, tomato and onion, don’t worry. Tomorrow is another day, and in an hour from now you may want some carrot sticks! Don’t let one mishap derail you. If Tolstoy had stopped writing after his first bout of writer’s block you wouldn’t even have this goal to aim for.
4) Don’t make it a chore. Chores have a bad stigma. Unless you are someone like me who loves writing lists of things to do not simply because they need to be done but also because you enjoy using a permanent marker to cross it off, chores bring on procrastination. So make it fun. Grab a biking buddy, join a book club that enjoys a glass of wine every get-together, figure out how to make vegetables disappear into your favorite dish (sweet potato mac N cheese anyone?). If it feels like fun you are more likely to stick with it.
5) Recognize why you want to accomplish your goal. Do you want to compete in a triathlon because you want to lead a fit lifestyle that will have you active into old age? Do you want to read that classic because you’ve heard that the story is beautiful and you know you will be proud of yourself? Do you want to eat more vegetables because you want to be healthy and you want to set a good example? Focus on those reasons when you are overcome by the distance to your goal. The goal will be accomplished and the reason and results will last forever.
~”If we make up our minds what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.”~ Ronald Reagan
Leave a Reply