It's a few days in, and we're finding it hard to keep up with all our wonderful intentions.
This is generally what happens with most people, so it's completely normal. What usually happens after that is we become discouraged and feel like failures, then give up. But since I'm a coach, I know better. For me, I'm going to see this as a fun experiment, and play with it, not making too many intentions and holding myself accountable without making myself wrong.
It's so easy to beat ourselves up when we don't follow through with every fitness goal we make for the day. It's almost a reflex! We start out by creating 3 or 4 goals for the day. For a few days we're good as gold, so we start adding more daily goals. Inevitably, life intrudes and we accomplish perhaps 2 or 3 of seven daily goals, forgetting that we have other personal, business, and family goals every day, too, and that's balancing a lot of spinning plates. We get out the figurative bullwhip and start flailing at ourselves, criticizing, belittling, whittling away at our confidence, sense of self-control, and long-term focus.
I still find my mind going there, but I no longer listen to it. I understand that its function is to help me be better, achieve more of my potential, and protect me from perceived dangers, but that function can limit me unless I repattern the direction of thought to "Okay, these are the facts of today. What's the next best step toward my long term goal right now?" Sometimes the next best step is to make simpler, fewer goals for the next day. Sometimes it's to take a big drink of water, or a walk, or make a commitment to do a more vigorous workout the next morning. And it's always to remember what I *was* successful at that day.
Kerul Kassel
www.NewLeafSystems.com and www.StopProcrastinatingNow.com . Helping individuals and groups with productivity, performance, effectiveness, and procrastination. kerul@newleafsystems.com



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