Goal Digger

Goals—We hear about them all the time. Maybe like me, you are currently working toward one, or even a few. That’s fantastic! I hope you are. If not, keep reading. This could be the spark that you need. Maybe you will finally feel motivated to set a goal for yourself and then take the steps necessary to achieve it.

Maybe your goal is to lose weight. Maybe it’s rather lofty, such as writing a book. Maybe it’s simple, like getting 8 hours of good, restful sleep. It doesn’t matter what it is, goals are healthy for us and we should always be working toward one. Goals provide us with determination. They teach us about perseverance. They remind us to never quit. They keep us focused.

Goals give me a reason to push harder than I otherwise would. They give me something to look forward to; a positive pulse for which my energy is derived. Plus the sense of accomplishment upon completion, isn’t a bad feeling either. 

Even though I set goals for myself, I sometimes fall short. Yep, I said it. I don’t always reach my goals. I’m human. I’m just like everyone else. Hear it from me first. 

It’s typically not from a lack of trying but rather pure laziness. My favorite go-to excuse is, “I didn’t have time”. Ahh—I can hear myself muttering that line to Nick, like I often do. There are 24 hours in each day, how do I not have time? Worst excuse ever. Don’t ever use it! Ever. Period.

If you’re going to use an excuse, at least make sure it’s valid. It better be along the lines of,  “I can’t train for my marathon today because I have uncontrollable, exploding diarrhea”. If your excuse is not comparable to that, it’s not legit and you shouldn’t use it. 

Now, I want to backtrack a bit—to the first of the year; January 1st, 2020. I set a New Year’s resolution. Woohoo, go me! Yeah, so did you and everyone else. Nothing bizarre about that. I vowed to read 12 books; 1 each month. It didn’t seem like it would be super easy with work and life responsibilities, but was certainly still an achievable feat. For the first two months, I was doing awesome; cranked two books out. Likely the excitement of starting a new goal. Right? We always do well to start off. Then March rolled around. I started my third book. Perfect! 

Then a pandemic hit. It was about the third week of March that the pandemic really affected me. Why then? Well, I lost my job. Sadly, I had plenty of time to read. I had all the time in the world to achieve my goal. If I was smart about it, I could’ve even gotten ahead or better yet, completed it early. But I wasn’t and I didn’t. I wasted time—doing I don’t even know what, because we were stuck home. I never really considered that I was letting my goal slip away. For a while I wasn’t even thinking about it anymore. So bad.

After a few more months of a dry spell, I finally picked up another book in July and began reading again. Then I picked up another and another. Soon, I would be caught up and on track to complete my goal on time. I felt really good about it. The interesting part—I was back to work, but somehow managed to find time to read. Funny how that works. It’s not finding the time, it’s making the time. Is your goal a priority? If not, make it one! 

When you set your mind to something; when you have a goal to reach, you are immediately more motivated. Even if you stray the course briefly, regardless of reason, you can always get yourself back on track. It’s easy to just throw our arms up and give up. I’ve done it! You’ve done it! We all have. We aren’t immune to losing our way sometimes. It happens. But that doesn’t mean give up. 

I’m not sure who said it, but I know it wasn’t me. We see this quote often—“Be stubborn about your goals, and flexible about your methods”. Maybe we should start thinking about this.

The key takeaway of all this—is to achieve our goals; regardless of method. See it through until it’s complete.  Maybe we need some adjustment along the way and that’s fine. I think this happens more times than not. I created a new approach with mine—if I read 12 books by December 31st, 2020, I have still achieved my goal. It’s different from my original plan of 1 book a month, however my goal of reading 12 books, will still complete my goal. 

Keep working toward whatever goal you have. If you’ve veered off a bit, that’s ok. Figure out a different route that will bring you to the same outcome. Don’t give up your goal. Ever. You owe it to yourself; to achieve everything great that you set your mind to. 

If you’re concerned about forgetting or lacking time or some other excuse, don’t be afraid to hold yourself accountable. Write down your goal. Write it in multiple places. Write it somewhere that you will see every day. Set a daily reminder on your phone. Allot a certain amount of time each day that is dedicated to your goal.  Whatever you do, don’t quit on your goal. When you quit on a goal, you quit on yourself! Don’t let that happen. 

Happy Goal Digging, my friend!