Your Weekly Challenge:
Review, Revise, Renew
By Bernadette Kathryn, LMT, IHLC
Review your goals twice every day
toRe be focused on achieving them.
~ Les Brown
The secret to accomplishing what matters most to you is committing your goals to writing, review the list often and revise your strategy as you move along. Evaluating your target is essential for several reasons…
- Writing your goals will force you to clarify what you want. Imagine setting out on a trip without a map or particular destination in mind. How do you pack? Which route do you take? How do you know when you have arrived? Instead, you start by picking a destination. The same is true for goals and aspirations for your life. Writing your goals forces you to select something specific and decide what you want which will clarify what you need to make it happen. Take your time and practice writing your goals in the SMARTER GOALS system, be very specific and measurable.
- When you write your goals down, it will motivate you to take action. Writing your goals down is only the beginning of achieving your goals. Committing to your intentions is important, and it is not enough. You must take action on your goals; you have to review your path often to ensure that you are going in the best direction. I have found that writing down goals and reviewing them provokes me to take the next most crucial action. And, the writing and reviewing process helps to identify when a change is needed and adjustment in the plans.
- Reviewing your goals often also provides a filter for other opportunities. The longer you work on your Living Fit Lifestyle goals, the more obstacles will arise that could potentially derail your plans. Lifestyle habits are some of the most challenging to change, and well-meaning friends and family can quickly become distractions that pull you off course. The best antidote to distractions is to maintain a list of written goals that you review daily and revise as needed to ensure your daily success. It is possible and preferable to have a plan to help you stay on track when socializing with your friends and family that are not involved in a Living Fit Lifestyle. You can stay on purpose and be successful with a healthy lifestyle.
- Reviewing your goals will help you overcome resistance. Every meaningful intention, dream, or purpose encounters opposition, primarily when the goals are centered around changing essential lifestyle habits that you have had for years. From the moment you set a lifestyle goal, you will begin to feel the resistance. The way to overcome this resistance to change is to focus on the goal—focus on what you want, focus on the benefits that you will enjoy by succeeding and visualize your success!
- Reviewing your goals will enable you to see—and celebrate—your progress. Change can be hard, and it is particularly challenging when you don’t perceive progress. Written goals that are like mile-markers on a highway; they enable you to see how far you have come and how far you need to go. Written goals also provide an opportunity for celebration when you attain them!
from M — Awesome 4 some
To me quality of life means being useful not redundant, pleased to take on the challenges of a new day—assume that there is a challenge,
and feeling like I accomplished something at the end of the day!
from Gillian – HOT MAMAS
I am improving a little bit towards my goals each week. Finally have the exercise headed in the right direction. Eating much better, now that I am less busy. Now need to curb the wine habit!
From Tim – AWESOME 4SOME
Challenge to have a positive attitude towards your self image. I work on this daily.. if I get on the scale and it is the same or less I have a great day.
Up early and at desk working..good jump to week
I have found that writing my goals down with my plan for achieving them makes them real and much more achievable
I’ve had success adjusting eating and feel better, but I can’t seem to push for more change. I set a goal of working on posture but I’ve done nothing to reach it. I think part of the challenge is that with all my goals I can just as easily start tomorrow as today. Time to regroup, rethink and reprioritize.
I believe keeping your goals visible is the key to staying on the path. That is what the well crafted Daily Score Card, does for me. It takes a while for the rules of the game to become integrated into every day practice. Creating a goal is one thing, but following through requires that I keep score both literally and figuratively.
For me — writing my goals down and working with them daily and weekly helps me see when and where I need to alter my course. This is valuable information that is necessary for success. I am not looking for perfection, I am looking for progress ~ sometimes a goal can become outdated and need revising.
And, like Pamela said ~ one might get discouraged along the path and having milestone markers along the way help keep the energy in the goal and positive movement.
Even though I provide this kind of feedback for others, both in my professional role and personal role, it is often harder to do it for myself. This game (and Bernadette) has served as a helpful reminder in seeing my progress. The other fantastic reminder I have is MUCH LESS pain due to staying the course with my ART treatment and rehab. It took many months to really experience a difference, and having Bernadette’s support, encouragement and perspective really helped me stay the course. I can do so much more now with little or no pain. So grateful!