GOOD ENOUGH
January is a popular time for setting goals and aspirations for ourselves. Studies show that only 8% of new year's resolutions are actually kept. Why is this?
Perhaps, in our enthusiasm for improvement, we create goals that are not realistically attainable. Is it possible that we expect too much of ourselves?
What if we scale back our aspirations to create interim steps towards what we are looking to ultimately achieve? For example, if we are determined to exercise 5 times a week, aren't we more likely to stick to a plan if we begin with 2 or 3 times a week, create that habit, and then add from there? If we go from never working out to exercising 4 times a week, haven't we had great success even if we don't reach our goal of 5 times a week?
Falling short of goals does a funny thing to our brains. It makes us feel like we have failed without giving credit for how far we have come. The next time you are unable to reach a goal you have set for yourself, you might want to ask "What have I done? Were my achievements good enough?"
