Goals Need Plans and Plans Need ---?

  

 

Today we are going to talk about goals.  I know, I know.  This is perhaps an overly-discussed topic.  We all know that we *should* be setting goals in various areas of life.  Some of us thrive when goals are set.  Others flounder and genuinely do better without them!  Why is this?  Of course we are all wired differently.  Our circumstances are going to vary, even within our own lives from the time when a goal was set and the date on which we had been hoping to achieve it!  

Those who are successful make plans.  Some do this in conjunction with their goals.  Others make a plan and have a "goal" of sticking to the plan.  That works!  Oftentimes at the beginning of a challenge group, I will ask the participants to describe their 30 and 60 day goals?  Then we break it down to a weekly goal.  I have lots of respect for those who say that they are not going to set a traditional goal because it usually backfires on them once they have the inevitable day that is "off track".  An all-or-nothing personality can become needlessly frustrated and will feel tempted to give up on that goal because they have already "blown it".  Rather than setting a big picture goal, some individuals commit to a daily plan.  I am 100% okay with this!  It is far and away better than having a lofty goal of running a half-marathon with no idea of how you are going to make that happen! 

Let's say for example that your goal is to lose 10 pounds by Thanksgiving.  Your plan is to workout 6 times per week and eat clean.  Okay, sounding good.  So now what??  The missing piece here is "habits".  Habits are what make plans succeed or fail.  Plans and habits are what get us to our goals.  So if our habits are not an area of close focus, we very likely are not going to reach our goals!   

It is in changing our daily (hourly!) habits that we are going to wind up with the big transformation.  Looking back we see how it was the compound effect of 100's of little decisions that got us to where we want to be.  Goals certainly have their places.  Plans are important.  But habits are what will make or break us.  Plus as we manage to change some of our habits, we have less of that old inner struggle that exists over choosing A or B.  We have made a new habit and our old ways are just not part of our everyday life. 

So, do you have habits that are keeping you from reaching the place you would like to be?  We are not going to wind up with a new destination until we change the things that we do daily.  I believe that this is our biggest key to success!  Not that it is the easiest!  Habits can be hard to change.  So this is where if you are a goal-oriented person, keeping that bigger picture goal in mind will help you to push through the process of making new habits.  If setting those big goals proves to be detrimental for you, go with the focus of your goal being an action rather than a result.  This may very well serve you better in the long run anyways!