So by now you are likely in one of two camps: those who are going strong with their 2021 goals and those who are struggling (whether you started and stalled or have yet to begin!) Regardless of which one you’re in, you are not yet to the point of achieving and sustaining your 2021 goals…so you may not realize that THAT is where the true challenge will start to happen. You see, the journey to meeting our goals is often fueled by the feeling of incremental success and the desire for an outcome that we have yet to experience. But once we’re THERE? The energy and focus that comes with desire to achieve a goal and celebrating success along the way is no longer present. This is where it becomes critically important to have a PLAN for not just ACHIEVING a goal but also for SUSTAINING it.
Have you ever had a friend who started the new year off STRONG and then suddenly it seemed like they hit a wall and then started tumbling downhill? Or maybe YOU were that friend?! The thing is, this is a SUPER common phenomenon…and it happens because even when we figure out how to CREATE change in our lives, we rarely know how to SUSTAIN it. Because you see, these are actually very DIFFERENT processes, and they require a DIFFERENT kind of mindset! Because the person who is striving for a goal is often using the momentum they are seeing and the motivation it creates to help them keep going. But the person who doesn’t have those things? She needs an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT approach to keep pushing forward with her goals when the excitement of seeing progress isn’t there in the same way.
One of the best things you can do to successfully meet AND sustain your goals is to develop a healthy mindset around growth. For so many of us, we move from goal to goal, barely taking the time to enjoy our success before raising the bar higher. Or, if we don’t yet have that “next goal” to aspire to, we end up floundering, unsure of quite what to do with ourselves.
So how do we create a plan that avoids BOTH of these traps? By focusing on our THOUGHT PATTERNS in order to make sure that we are getting the results we want AND being able to keep them.
So what exactly do I mean? Well, if I am thinking that once I meet a health goal I will be “done,” I may find myself disappointed if the result feels anticlimactic. Or, if I tell myself that this goal is just a “first step,” I may push myself to achieve more before I am ready. In either case, the problem arises when how the goal FEELS to me does not line up with how I envisioned it would. The solution? Surprisingly, it is NOT just finding a new focus. It is getting SUPER CLEAR on the feeling we are seeking, what thoughts will help us get there, and how to create them.
For many of you, you’re just a few weeks into a new goal, so maybe it’s smooth sailing. Or maybe you’ve hit a bump in the road and are figuring out how to pivot. Or perhaps you’ve actually reached a short-term goal you’ve set in the new year or one that carried over from 2020 and are looking at how to sustain what you’ve accomplished. Wherever you are in your goal journey, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at Becky@highergoodcoaching.com to connect.
