Everyone has goals, but not everyone has a chronic illness.
Most people who don’t have chronic illness set goals for fun.
“I want to lose 10 pounds”.
“I want to watch less TV”.
“I want to read 10 books this year”.
For those of us who have chronic illness, we set some goals out of necessity.
“I want to be able to run again”.
“I want to be more positive this year”.
“I want to feel less tried”.
Setting goals becomes part of our daily lives, our inner desire to be “normal” again. Without goals we feel lost in a vicious cycle of flare ups, frustration, and lack of energy. Without goals, we lose in our battle with chronic illness.
We must understand how to set goals, become relentless in our struggle to achieve more for ourselves, and not let our illness control our lives.
Below is a three step goal setting process that works. Follow each step and you will be on your way to becoming a better you.
1) Set Actions, not Goals
This step is where most people make the first mistake. Case in point: New Years Resolutions. How many times have you seen someone start a New Years resolution only to fail less than one month into the New Year?
Setting an action is much different than setting a goal. Too often we get caught up in the goal only to miss out on the most important part – the plan to get there. Stop setting ridiculously high goals for yourself, and instead set actions.
If your original goal was to run again, wipe that goal right off the list. Instead, set actions for yourself that should result in you eventually running. For example, set an action to walk 4 times a week at as brisk a pace as you can. Continue to walk faster each week. Guess what? Soon you will be running.
2) Forget yearly goals, start small.
The whole point of creating actions instead of goals is to keep it manageable.
One of my favorite sayings is that “there is no such thing as an overnight success“. It is true! For every “overnight” success there were hours and sometimes years of hard work. The highest achievers in this world all know the same thing: set small achievable actions that create results. By creating small actions, we are able to celebrate our successes each and every day. There is no need to wait till the end of some grand goal in order to celebrate. We need to celebrate each day we become closer to our goals.
Sometimes we just need to forget the end goal and take small steps (or actions) towards our goals. Start planning small daily and weekly actions. Believe me, there will be less stress and you will feel like you are achieving a lot more.
3) Give yourself some slack
I know, great motivation for achieving your goals right?
Most of the time I would agree, but I know all too well how stressed I get when I fail to achieve my goals. With chronic illness, this stress will not only get you down, it could cause a flare up. (I know from experience)
Don’t stress over missing an action now and then. We are all human! You need to remember that sometimes you will miss a day, week, or even month. That is the whole point in creating actions instead of goals. If you set actions, you have something to achieve each and every week. Missing a week won’t matter. All that will matter is your courage, strength, and tenacity to get back on the horse.
If you want to have some great support in achieving your goals join the Cant Stop Me Community. You are not alone in this journey, always remember that.
What actions do you have planned this year? Write them below and begin some accountability.
Dave
