Dusting Off Your Goals and Getting Back on Track
Well hello, there! It’s been a while for me since I had a self-improvement chat (I checked, the last time I did this was in March) and I felt a little rusty hammering this one out. Please bear with any awkward phrasings or weird wordings.
I’ve been in a bit of a mood lull lately, feeling out of control with life, mopping around and indulging in one too many fries. So it’s safe to say the goals I set for myself for this year last December have been shot to hell. I spent the other day looking over them thinking “What kind of substance was I on thinking I could do all this?!” The very goals I was still motivated and inspired to see through as late as February. In fact, they made me feel shittier about myself and pushed me further into my downward spiral. After some more fries, a fair bit of ice cream and feeling close to tears the last time I put on a pair of jeans, I decided I was sick of feeling this way. And the only way I know how to do that is to write up lists and do up endless plans. In other words, I needed a plan. Like now. To prevent further spiralling. So I sat down one afternoon, played Homecoming on the background, looked at the same set of goals, tried to find the value in them and had a bit of chat with myself about rebooting them. Have they been going well? Since the start of June, I would say so. They are not fantastic and nowhere near where I had planned to be by this time of the year but I am somewhere and not 100% off it altogether. And since June is the time most of us start to veer off track with our goals, I thought I would share what I did to dust off my goals a little bit and get back on track in hopes it might give you some ideas as well.
1. Scale it down
The first and biggest problem for me was that my goals seemed to have no end. Not in an accomplishment sense but they just seemed bleak. They were S.M.A.R.T, the whole detailed and specific and measurable and all that jazz. Take for example my fitness goals, I still see the value in them, I want to see them through but for some reason, seeing “workout 5 times a week” just created a “and then what?” reaction and indifference in me. Which for some reason, felt enough to not work out. AT ALL (The brief breakdown over wearing jeans makes sense now, doesn’t it?) Same thing for a bunch of my other goals. It was all an “I do x and then what? For how long? Does any of this even matter?” attitude.
So instead of seeing my goals as something for a year or a couple of years, I narrowed them down to 90 days. I tried to figure out what I want to achieve over the next 90 days. (This can be as many days as you want, 30 felt a little too short, didn’t like 60 because I don’t like even numbers and 100 seemed too much. 90 was just right.) I reviewed my goals and scaled them down to what I can achieve over 90 days – so instead of “watch 1 movie per week” it became “watch 12 films in 90 days”. Instead of “workout 5 times a week”, it became “complete 60 workouts”. I even threw a little “complete 28 vegan days” to add an element of interest and novelty. Completely the mark on that one. Anyway, suddenly, it was just a matter of what I can do and focus on for the next 90 days. Which then produced a “For just 90 days” attitude. Which was enough to have me doing things regarding my goals because it’s like the whole 1 step at a time thing but for life. I hacked the system – what had felt so desolate was suddenly a little more breathable.
2. Write it down
Now that I had a 90-day plan about what to accomplish, I immediately saw the loophole – the lack of accountability. If it was something I left to my memory to do the work, I knew soon it would be a “It’s okay, I’ll read 2 books next week to make up for the numbers”. And before you know it, it’s day 85 of 90 and I’ve read one chapter instead of 7 books. To beat this, I find it really useful to have some sort of tracker – you can do digital if you prefer. There are SO many free apps these days anyway. I personally like having it in my BUJO. There is just this sense of satisfaction in ticking or crossing things out when you have completed them. I also feel pretty pleased with myself the next time I go back to the tracker to strike off something and see the pattern of having completed things. It’s like a pat on the back and gives me the motivation to keep going. On the flip side, it also just does enough guilt-tripping when you have ticked off nothing at all instead of giving up altogether for some reason.
3. Pare it down
Decision fatigue is an actual thing. Struggling to find the oompf and motivation to do something even if you are passionate about it and have found your “why” is a thing. We’re only human after all. There always tends to be a day or a series of days where doing anything at all, never mind your pet projects feel too much. To minimize this and have energies reserved for what I really, REALLY want to focus on, I pared down on all the other aspects of my life. As much as possible. I always have my meals planned out and if I don’t feel like cooking, I know three one-pot meals that I can easily throw together in 15 minutes and three places I can get takeout or delivery from. I always have a minimum of 5 outfits planned and ready to go even though I basically work from home for those impromptu brunches or dinner dates with my friends. Skincare routine, makeup routine, hair routine are all clockwork for me now and just the basics – I’m so over the “mixing things up with my look” thing. I’ve found what works best and I swear by it. I have a list I keep on my computer and reminders in my calendar for when my products are expiring and the next item I wish to buy to replace the current one. I mean if these are things you want to ponder and play around with, by all means, go ahead. I just wanted to show you exactly where I have trimmed down decision making in my life – I have previously spent 4 days mulling a mascara purchase. The point is to take the heavy lifting out of things that don’t actually matter so that you can save your mental energy for things that do.
4. Hold it down
Easily, the place where I am bound to mess it all up but also the most KEY part in getting back on track. Trying to keep up with the goals you set for yourself is hard but it’s even harder to get back once you fall off the wagon. If I can’t do what I had planned for today, I try to do a scaled down version of it instead. For example, If I can’t do a 60-minute workout as I had planned, I try to do a 45 minute one instead. Something is way, WAY better than nothing at the end of the day.
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