Goals. We all have them. We all want to reach them. And preferably soon. Like now soon. Ok in fact yesterday.
Somehow all that desperation in wanting to reach our goals disempowers us from actually reaching them. The motivation that we have right after we have set our goals seems so steadfast and strong! We can feel that initial charge towards our goals as if nothing can stop us! But somehow, all of that motivation so quickly dissipates as we meet some challenging obstacles.
What if we started to think about meeting our goals as not just an end goal but a slow and steady journey where we can actually win the race but also have an incredible experience doing it? Valuing the journey creates space for learning how to be patient with our pace, how to celebrate meeting our challenges and how to react with kindness to the inevitable setbacks that can happen along the way.
Forget the charging and start PECKing at your goals!
That is: Plan, Easy steps, Celebrate, Kindness!
P= Plan out your goal. Decide want kind of a goal you’d like to set for yourself. Be realistic. Is it actually attainable? Can it be broken down into smaller steps? Then great! First step… done.
E= Easy steps! Break down each step into even tinier, doable steps. The steps should be as tiny as you need them to be so that the next step is not only doable but FEELS doable. If the step feels overwhelming ask yourself if there is away to break it down into even smaller steps.
C- Celebrate, applaud, and give yourself a reward after every step you take toward your goal. It is so important to honor the fact that you are that much closer to reaching your goal! A lot of times we forget to do this. We tend to think, “Ok I was able to do this particular step, but there is still so much more to do, I will never get there!” Recognize the thought but understand that the thought is coming from a place of judgment. Let’s gently remind ourselves that we are still in celebration mode!
K= Kindness. There are just going to be days where we have setbacks. We sometimes have the tendency to beat ourselves up over this, which can derail us from staying on track to meet our goals. But instead of empowering the thoughts of worthlessness, we can embrace this feeling of vulnerability, and meet it with kindness, forgiveness and compassion. Other times, life throws us curveballs and our goals need to veer in a different direction. Again we can access kindness in these moments over the loss of our original goals but knowing that somehow this may open us up to new possibilities.
So the next time we find ourselves about to call it quits, let’s see if we can reevaluate by asking ourselves to examine our journeys. Many times we find that it is quite sPECKtacular!
Photo of Chestnut Woodpecker (Celeus elegans) courtesy of Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Restartwell 