One thing I always hear people say is that those goals they set at the beginning of the month are forgotten by the end of the month. For me, January took off quickly and I’m still trying to catch my breath. I had a thought yesterday, “what, again, was my new year’s resolution? Whatever it is, I think I need to revisit it and maybe even change it. I’m not liking how things are going.” My guess is others are in the same boat. Are you in a position where you need to revisit your New Year’s resolution? We have the opportunity to re-set the intention, or even shift it to better fit our lives.
This morning as I went to check on my goals for the year I realized I went in a little too hard. I went out of the gate like a racehorse! I have many goals throughout the year, but the overarching one for me this year is to make goals in line with my intuition so I’m working towards my bigger goals…and to stop delaying following the wisdom of my inner voice. What I’ve found is that in certain areas I’m ABSOLUTELY doing this, almost TOO much. So, I had to revisit how quickly I’m going towards some bigger goals and add in a new goal of really paying attention to the pace of my life. I don’t want to miss these precious days because I am rushing through to get to my goals.
So, let me give a few ways to go about revisiting your yearly goals if you feel as though you’ve fallen off the course:
1) Ask yourself, “Am I really going in the direction of the goal or intention I set?” Don’t ask with a voice of judgment, rather curiosity. I’ve found in life we often go about things in the wrong way- with judgement and shame. But the elements that help bring the real reasons for our actions are love and grace. So, give yourself some grace! If you’re not moving in the direction of your goal ask, “Why not?” See what answer comes up.
2) This one is in response to your answer for “Why not?” Here are a few possible outcomes (but I’m sure there are many others). See if you fall into one of the following:
· “I really just forgot what my goal is! Life got going and it slipped my mind.” Ok! If that’s it, just re-set your intention. New Year’s resolutions are not once and done. Every day is a new opportunity to re-set the intention!
· “I set this intention, but it needs to be adjusted.” This is very true for me. I’m definitely going after one aspect of my goal, but it definitely needs attention. Because I’ve been going so hard after the goal I feel like I’m moving in a frenzy, rather than centered and aware. So, I am adding to my intention that I want to move through life towards my goals, but at a pace that works for our family. See if your goal needs slight tweeking.
· “You know, on second thought, this goal really doesn’t fit my values.” Check out the values behind your original intention. The most common goal we hear about this time of year is work-out or self-image related. There’s nothing wrong with these goals, but maybe you’re finding you need to shift the reasoning behind the goal. Instead of being a harsh critic towards your image (which pushed you towards your weight goal), maybe you need to say instead “My value is to be healthy and kind to myself. I want to lose the extra 10 pounds so I feel better and have more energy.” This is different than making the goal off of harsh reasoning, such as, “I want to lose 10 pounds because I hate the way I look!” Remember, a bit of self-compassion goes A LONG WAY! It’s not weakness, it’s actually what is needed to fuel lasting change. Be kind to yourself.
I hope you’re able to get after your goals for this year. Dream big! Any lapse in working towards your goals is just an opportunity to revisit them. Don’t give up on your goals just because you’ve slid away from them for a period. Re-visit them and keep plugging away!
Happy Rooting!
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