Set your Goals High and your Expectations Low!
You immediate reaction is probably, “What kind of advice is that? Set my goals high and my expectations low?” Give me a minute!
Let’s start with Goals
We have been told to set SMART Goals for years. I remember first learning about SMART goals in school back in 2003 or so and I know this theory is way older than that. You know – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound. I have set SMART goals for myself and guided many clients with creating their own. One thing I noticed, not everyone got really excited about them. They didn’t always drive us into action or keep us going when we were faced with challenges. When I analyze why they didn’t work, I come up with a few theories
1. Specific and measurable were pretty easy, timely wasn’t too hard to identify, but the Attainable and Realistic….. only set goals we can achieve …pretty much twice in this formula. What I translate… be mediocre, be in the middle, exceed, but not too much! Right from the start we are setting ourselves up to only reach what we believe we are capable of. If we are already filled with doubt, especially if we have failed before, these goal aren’t going to be very high, because we don’t want to fail AGAIN!
2. We don’t set up action plans to go with our goals. It is great that there is a destination defined, but how are we going to do it? This part needs more of our attention. What are we going to do today, this week, within the next month? Who is part of our support system? What have been our attempts in the past, where did we typically find success, where did we struggle, what plans can we set up for ourselves THIS TIME? What strategies will you use for the challenges you know you will face?
3. Goals have us focused on a destination, not the journey. If we do achieve the goal, then what? We did it….done... back to the old way of doing things. The process of becoming our goal is where we find the joy and continued motivation to keep up what we achieve. The new habits and the new beliefs we have developed on the way to achieving the goal – that is the real accomplishment we should be striving for!
I am not suggesting throwing goals out the window completely, it is a great starting point. I am encouraging us to explore a wider range of thinking around the topic.
Instead of creating the same old SMART Goals, since we either didn’t do it in January or already quit, take the extra time and Create your Goal and Action Plan! Evaluate Who you are striving to be rather than what you want to do.
On to Expectations
Set them low…. I mean really low as in a 1% change each day. So low that it almost goes unnoticed! If you set a goal and expect immediate results, that is also expecting failure. (Note that not all failure is bad…. But a topic for another time) Implementing a new habit of exercising 4 days a week is not going to lead to a 6 pack on day 5! However, exercising for 4 days a week for a month, 2, or 3 – you will notice you are a little stronger, you will notice you have more energy, you will notice that you look forward to your workout, you might notice you crave less junk food.
It is going to take time, effort, and new habits to live into your goals. It takes consistency, dedication, and repetition for new habits to replace what you have been doing for years. The best part, learning to live into your new self because that is the ultimate goal.
In Health
Ashley