Got Goals?

Well, here we are in a brand new year.  We had all hoped that 2022 would bring a fresh new production but it appears that re-runs are on the schedule.  Our old buddy COVID has decided on yet another encore.  Now normally, January is when everyone sets their New Year resolutions.  You’ll hear things like; I’m going to exercise more, I’m going to stop smoking, I’m going to get out of debt and the list goes on and on.  Typically, 50% of Americans make New Years Resolutions and only 8% come close to keeping them.  In fact, most people quit after the first week of declaring their big goals.  And this is when times are good!  Now factor in all of the disappointments that have occurred due to COVID.  Personally, since my husband passed in 2018, I set a goal to look for opportunities to travel more.  I planned a cruise with my mother, aunt and daughter in 2020 and it was canceled.  I’m not one to linger on a bad break so we planned another cruise for the whole family in 2021, canceled.  Surely, we’re on the road to recovery, after all, we’ve got a vaccine now.  Wouldn’t you know, my mother and I are set to take off January 30, 2022 for an amazing 7 day Smooth Jazz Cruise featuring all of our favorite artists performing live on one ship and BAM!  Just like that, we’re done.  Why in the world should we even bother to entertain the idea of setting more goals in 2022?  Because without goals, you’re simply going nowhere.

 

“If you fail to plan, You are planning to fail.”

Benjamin Franklin

 

Without Vision, there is no hope.  Without hope, there is no future.  Many studies have shown that only 3% of the population set goals and only 1% write those goal down and revisit them on a regular basis.  Ironically, the majority of that 1% have achieved that 7 figure status.  That tells me one thing, no matter what’s going on around you, keep setting those goals.  Now, let’s take that to an even higher level and begin to teach our children the power of setting and achieving goals.  People often ask me about helping children gain more confidence.  The truth is, nothing gains confidence faster than winning.  When you’re winning, you feel great about yourself.  It’s only when you’re losing that you begin to doubt your abilities.  When we set goals the right way, it helps us gain multiple mini wins which in turn builds our confidence.  In James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, he talks about how simply improving by 1% each day compounds into huge accomplishments over time.  Most people, especially at the beginning of a New Years come up with huge, lofty goals and no real plan to help them succeed.  Imagine for a moment that your goal is to lose weight.  You have two ways you could go about it.

1. You decide to go to the gym 6 days a week and do the Spartan workout on YouTube.  You’re also going to eat the Spartan diet which contains absolutely nothing that you enjoy eating.  You go to the gym on day 1 and finish half of the workout but you’re not to discouraged because it was pretty tough and you’ll eventually get through the whole thing.  You’ve also managed to gag down a couple of meals that you hate but hey, whatever it takes.  Your first day wasn’t great but you’re satisfied.  Day 2 comes and it’s a little more difficult because you’re feeling kind of sore yet you manage to squeak through, you survived another day.  Day 3 comes and you can barely move because the full effect of the soreness has set in AND you’re starving because you’re body is feeling deprived.  You have no choice but to skip today and the next day.  You’re still starving so you decided to hit up a couple of fast food places as well.  This goal is now a bust.
2. You’ve thought about losing weight because you’ve noticed that you just haven’t had the same energy.  You’re feeling sluggish and your numbers were a little high at your last doctors appointment.  You know you need to make a change but you want it to last.  You did some research and educated yourself on health and wellness and wrote out your goals to change your lifestyle.  You also wrote “why” this was important to you and you placed it where you can see and read it everyday.  You read about the benefits of walking so you decided to walk for 10 minutes every day for 21 days.  You got a little calendar so you can check the box each day you walk so you can see your progress.  Everyday that you see that big red “X” you fee accomplished.  You also read how important hydration is so you decided to drink water during the week and give yourself the weekend to enjoy a soda and an alcoholic beverage.  At the end of that 21 days, you notice that you have a bit more energy and that you’ve lost a few pounds.  Now you’re feeling motivated to up your walks to 20 minutes and you’ve limited eating out to 3 days per week.   A few weeks later, you adjust and add on a little more.  Success!

You see, goal setting shouldn’t leave you feeling like a failure.  It can however, be your GPS to the life and dreams you’ve always wanted to accomplish.  There are many excellent books available on how to write and achieve your goals.  I encourage you to do a search and make it a goal to learn how to become a part of that 1%.  This is your year no matter what’s going on in the world.  Even if you find like I did that you weren’t able to meet your goal, don’t get discouraged, simply set a new one.  Cruise ships aren’t the only way to travel.  ??