Have you ever set a goal for yourself (whether specific or not), and failed to reach it?
It’s happened to me more times than I can count, and I see it happening often with my friends and clients. There is natural joy and excitement in the goal setting process – it lights us up and energizes us to think about all of the possibilities for our future! It’s also totally normal to experience a goal setting hangover the next morning, when the rubber hits the road. Our desire to wake up at 5 am each morning suddenly seems less important when our bed is cozy and our room is dark, and before we know it, all of our well intended goals are out the window. We’ll start tomorrow, we think. What difference does one day make?
We get in our own way all the time. We make excuses, we avoid tough situations, we convince ourselves that we have to be flexible about our goals and desires. This slippery slope of our internal dialogue allows us to feel not only like we’re making progress (when we aren’t!), but that we are being virtuous in the process.
The reality is that each time we choose to skip a new healthy habit or snooze on a personal or business goal, we’re letting ourselves down. We’re telling that energized and lit up goal setting version of ourselves that she doesn’t matter as much as our current circumstances.
So why is it so hard to get out of our own damn way? Because we’ve internalized the belief that who we are now is who we always will be. We’ve forgotten our innate ability to grow, to change, to channel, to evolve. We’ve allowed ourselves to fail so many times in the past that we start to believe it’s the natural way of things.
The minute you can accept that you are in constant evolution and that you alone define yourself, you’re free to succeed at all of the habits and goals. I can (and will!) share plenty of tactics and tools on this blog, but don’t forget that the key to using any of them effectively is seeing through you own bullshit.
Need help? Ask away!