Goals that we don’t achieve-we all have them, we had good intentions, so what happened? Sometimes the novelty wears off, sometimes we’re over-zealous in setting our goals and set them too high, and sometimes we act like it’s our sole purpose in life to get things on our to do list checked off. It feels good to check things off!
When we focus so much on just getting things checked off, we forget to enjoy the journey along the way or the reason why we set a particular goal in the first place. While forward movement is great, we also need to attend to our life balance and enjoying the process of achieving our goals, not just the results. *Enjoying the process of working towards a goal, and celebrating your successes along the way makes achieving a goal more fulfilling. Otherwise, our goals can feel like empty accomplishments.
Here are some thoughts to keep in mind to look ahead and maintain balance in your life:
Your “To Do” list is never ending. Not to sound ominous, but your list is never going to end. You might as well enjoy the journey. Notice if you’re living each day like it’s your purpose to get everything done on your list. Do you tell yourself that if you can only get things done, you’ll feel relaxed and happy? There will always be unfinished items on your list, so enjoy the process instead of being run by your desire to get everything accomplished. Be happy and at peace now, don’t wait until you’ve checked everything off.
Be honest with yourself. If a goal doesn’t really fit or is something you think you should do but aren’t really energized about, ask yourself…Do I really need to be doing this? Get rid of the goal, change it, or put it on the backburner for a later date when you feel more energized about it. Similarly, if a goal is too big and makes you feel overwhelmed or frozen into inaction, change it or change its deadline.
Cut yourself some slack. Give yourself a break. Goals are a tool to help you plan and motivate you, not something to beat yourself up with if you don’t achieve them or achieve them in the timeframe you expected. Cut yourself some slack and acknowledge that you’re headed in the right direction. Instead of getting frustrated over small setbacks, learn from them and move on.
“Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it’s who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.” Tony Robbins
