Reframing Goals
If you haven't read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, I'd highly recommend getting yourself a copy ASAP! I love Mark's honest, blunt point of view on life. Through his novel, he encapsulates the importance of living presently and being realistic with your own abilities as well as goals you set. While I can go on about all the great points Mark makes, what struck me the most was his philosophy of goal setting.
It's really easy to set a goal and not think about the steps it takes to accomplish it. I do this all the time and feel disappointed when I don't reach my goals. Rather than just setting a goal, Mark explains how we need think about what we're willing to suffer for before deciding what goal we want to work towards. What he means by this is that we need to think about the steps and the amount of time it takes to accomplish our goal. Once we understand the effort level we need to put in, we can evaluate if it's worth our time.
This all seems obvious, but it's often overlooked. Commonly, we say "I want to do x, y, z". When we don't accomplish these goals, we complain and make excuses for not accomplishing the goals we set. By taking the time to evaluate the amount of effort we need to put in towards reaching our goals, the more likely we will be able to accomplish them. This is because it helps us recognize the time we need to invest in the activity and it will allow us to prioritize what goals are important to us.
Reframing how I set goals has helped me tremendously! I encourage everyone to give this a shot and let me know if this works for you too!
xo Kerstin