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WHY GOALS HAVE HOLES
THE EMOTION EQUATION
Emotions are messy, but they are a very real part of our day-to-day life. For making better choices and building better systems, emotions can wreak havoc on our best intentions and, more importantly, our progress. We have enough emotions running the show in our life. We need to have our BRAINS take over for making the small changes, the daily choices and the conscious decisions that impact our health and wellbeing. There’s no more room for hemming and hawing. The business of being healthy is about getting down to brass tacks, creating a plan and sticking to it. We know your feelings will rear their ugly heads when you’re faced with a choice, but if you can try to be more practical and less emotional, you will be better off.
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Until we realize and fully accept there is discomfort in change, change will be forever be obsolete.
WHY GOALS HAVE HOLES
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We’ve been taught from a very young age that if we want to accomplish something we must set goals. We have glorified goals for so long that when we go to change an aspect of our lives, setting a goal is often the obvious first step. Despite being touted by many, this approach has serious flaws, especially when it comes to your health and wellness. Here’s why.
Goals have an endpoint. This is why many people revert to their previous state after achieving a certain goal. People run marathons, then stop exercising all together afterward. Others reach a goal weight, only to spoil their progress by overeating to celebrate and then begin that, oh so familiar, downward spiral. Ruh-Roh. A B
Goals rely on factors that we do not always
have control over. It’s an unavoidable fact that reaching a goal is not always possible, regardless of effort. An injury might derail a fitness goal or a family tragedy might impede a meal-planning goal. What’s a girl to do?
Goals rely on willpower and self-discipline.
As Charles Duhigg wrote in The Power of Habit: “Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.” When other parts of our lives deplete our supply of willpower, it’s easy to forget our goals.
