Goal Evaluation
One of the most powerful, yet least discussed, weight loss tool is a list of goals. A goals list should be a list of anything you want to accomplish.
I have two goal lists, one for short-term goals and one for long-term goals. The short-term list is a working/living document that changes frequently when I accomplish one or when I need to add one. These are goals to accomplish in a day (commonly referred to as a to-do list), a week and even a month. If they go past a month, they get put onto the long-term list. My long-term list is broken out my 6 month and 12 month goals. The 6 month goal list is really what I am shooting for and my benchmark for success. , while the 12 month goals are more lofty.
My goals list is personal. They are my goals. They don’t get shared with anyone, wife excepted. It helps that my wife knows my goals. She helps push me to accomplish my goals. She is my partner in crime.
It helps me when I write down my goals and look at them often. When they are written down, they are tangible. They are real. Knowing what my goals are and how to accomplish them is important. Just as important, is the practice of reviewing my goals.
From time to time, I take a look back at the results and take a few moments to review what goals I accomplished and what goals I missed. Its easy to look at the goals accomplished and celebrate the victory (which is important and something I wrote about here). But the tough part comes in reviewing the goals in which I missed the mark. Its easy to dismiss them or to keep pushing them out, but I have honest conversations with myself. Why did I fail? What factors contributed to the failure? What could I have done better or different to accomplish that goal? What will I change to make it happen in the future?
These are important questions I ask myself when I fail so I can learn. So I can get better. So I can achieve. How do I know if I can do better if I don’t know what I did wrong? These are tough conversations to have with myself, but they are necessary. Did I fail becasue of an uncontrollable external factor? Sometimes this happens, but most of the time its because I didn’t go out and get it. I didn’t push myself. I got lazy. I made excuses. I flat out didn’t do it. These are most likely the causes of my failures. It helps when I recognize that in myself, vow to get better and then go out and make it happen.
When you create a feedback circle for yourself, you make yourself better. Write down your goals, stick to them and accomplish them. If you don’t accomplish them, figure out why and get back at it. Don’t beat yourself up too much, that’s counterproductive. Just know that you can do better and then be better!
Be Well. Be Active. Feel Great.