So you are looking through a magazine and you see a picture of a model, competitor, idol, etc and immediately think, that's what I want to look like.
That's the body I want to achieve.
You get that funny feeling in your stomach that confirms that yes, there is no question about it. This is your new goal. Setting the goal is an awesome feeling, isn't it? You're full or energy, inspired, and ready to get to work.
But then a few weeks or months down the road, you notice your motivation has waned and you need a jumpstart to get that inspiration going again.
Here are a few things to remember when you feel yourself hitting that slump.
1. Don't be so hard on yourself. Even the people that you look up to-even that superstar in the magazine that helped you set this goal into motion in the first place-aren't perfect. No one is!
Rather than holding yourself up to unrealistic standards and pushing yourself to the point that makes this goal no fun anymore, relax a little. Take it day by day, do the best you can, and know that every challenge (i.e. mistake, slip-up, moment of questioning) is an opportunity to make yourself better.
2. Force negates, let your inspiration guide you. We all know that feeling when we think we need to do something, but we really don't want to do it, yet we force ourselves to do it anyway. Sometimes once you get going, you get into the groove, feel better and are glad you made yourself do it. But what if instead of forcing yourself in a really uncomfortable way, you got inspired first, then got to work.
Everyone talks about vision boards and setting SMART goals, but the root of it all is simply knowing why you are doing whatever it is that you are doing. When you get right down to it, you're doing it because of how you want to feel about yourself.
You want to feel strong, confident, happy, powerful, fulfilled, satisfied... whatever it is for you. If you can tap into that emotion now, it usually gets your energy going and makes you want to jump into action, toward achieving that goal. This is why vision board, favorite playlists, workout buddies, etc are so helpful... because they are an immediate outlet to this hyped-up inspired feeling.
3. Become obsessed with that feeling. You've probably heard (or said) the phrase, "I'm obsessed with that," at least once in your lifetime. If you really want to reach your goal, become obsessed with these feeling (mentioned above) that inspire you. Make it your mission to feel that way as often as you can right now.
The truth is, you don't really need to reach the goal in order to feel that way, it's just a matter of choice. Choose to look for the qualities in yourself and your life that help bring out those good feeling right now. Make lists of things in your life that help you to feel these emotions. Specifically look for reasons to feel empowered, strong, satisfied and you'd be surprised at how quickly those feelings show up and jolt you with ideas, energy, and inspiration to get moving.
We sort of have it backwards, thinking that we've got to accomplish this certain thing and then we'll feel worthy of feeling good about ourselves. We've confused ourselves about goal-setting and have forgotten that the real reason to set a goal isn't to achieve it, but rather because it's just fun to challenge ourselves!
Become obsessed with feeling powerful, strong, happy, etc right now in this moment, as you continue to challenge yourself to greater and greater heights.
You don't have to change one thing about yourself in order to be whole and worthy of feeling awesome.
4. Realize that once you reach this goal, you're going to almost immediately set another. This is why it's so important to not set up the expectation that once you get "there" then you'll feel happy, satisfied, fulfilled, strong, etc because you'll always want more. There is no such thing as enough, and that's ok because that's just how we are wired.
That's a big part of what life is about and why people are always saying that it's a journey-because it's not about crossing the finish line, it's about experiencing all the adventure along the way. The sooner you can convince yourself of this, the more comfortable and fun the road to achieving your goals (and your life) will be.
Sheila Viers is the co-founder of Live Well 360, a company that is re-inventing the fitness bag because on the road to health and fitness you need a worthy companion.
Live Well 360's first bag, the Core, has been featured in Oxygen Magazine and Shape Magazine, as well as, on top fitness sites like FitSugar.com and dailySpark.com. The company's blog has also been named one of FITNESS Magazine's favorite health blogs.
To learn more about Sheila and Live Well 360, please visit http://www.livewell360.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment