Goals
// March 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // General
We all have them, those white elephants sitting somewhere in a corner gathering dust. That guitar that was going to make you a rock star, if only you took the lessons. The mountain bike with the flat tyres just waiting for a Cape Epic to show its metal. You know, remnants of those new year’s resolutions we all vowed to keep.
I’ve never really been one for resolutions. They are far too “up in the air” to really attain. I prefer to take a more structured approach to achieving my goals, by working with milestones as a key motivator.
Wishing that you could loose weight is one thing, setting a short-term goal with an actual number attached to it, makes it a more achievable target. And let’s be honest, setting a goal to loose say 20kgs is a recipe for disaster. Slicing this up into 2’s, 5’s and 10’s makes this goal seem much smaller and easier to achieve.
Once you’ve reached your short-term goal, re-evaluate your status and set another goal. This way, you can tick a box, put the first hurdle behind you and look forward to the next one. Of course nothing is sweeter than that little reward every time you reach a goal or tick a box - that feeling of accomplishment.
That said, I’ve already achieved two goals this year. Break the 100 kg mark and loose the first 10 kgs. Admittedly, it hasn’t been easy. Although I haven’t been starving myself, popping pills or traded my laptop bag for a gym bag, I’ve had to make some conscious decisions about what, and equally as important, how much I put into my body.
I dropped drinking coffee in December and swapped it for the occasional morning cup of Rooibos tea (proudly South African moment there). I now glug down about 3 litres of Johannesburg’s finest water per day, in 500 ml increments (another achievable goal). Fast food have made way for a healthier menu, including loads of fruit, vegetables and generally sensible choices. Always check the labels and keep the kilojoules, sugar and fat low and the fibre high.
On occasion, don’t deny yourself that one block of chocolate or that fresh-out-the-oven-bun, but keep it to moderate levels. Don’t go off the rails completely. Perhaps for me, the occasional bout of heartburn, following a bad lunch decision has played its part in keeping me on the straight and narrow.
Since we’re on the topic of goals, I have to mention that I’m looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring. Work-wise, I’ve set some great goals which are ambitious, but achievable. We’ve set goals for our family life, church life, community life and social life (more on these later) and not forgetting South Africa’s goal of hosting the best FIFA 2010 World Cup the world has seen.
Each one of these goals listed above were broken down into smaller milestones to make them achievable and trackable. So the question is, what are your milestones?
