I like to talk about goals after January because, if you set goals in the new year, you probably have some idea how they are going by now. Maybe you are exceeding your goals or maybe you have given up on them entirely. However they are going, I think there is some real gold in being able to take a good look at how they are going.
Assessing your own progress can be challenging as your goals likely matter to you and it’s easy to let your emotion and passion blind you. Overcommitting can be a real issue. When we want to change an area of our life we can create a plan that is unrealistic or unsustainable. The opposite could also be true, if you can achieve your goal easily then is it really a goal or just something you are doing. So we need to find the middle ground for your current life situation. One meaningful way of doing that is to work out what you think you need to do to achieve your goal and then look at your life and work out when you could take these steps.
My own goal setting process is to set goals every 12 weeks. If you are interested in per-suing this approach I highly recommend the book ‘12 week year’. I think we all have lots of unspoken goals. Things we want or think we should be doing. I like to be clear in my own mind what my priorities are. I only allow myself to have a maximum of 3 main goals each 12 weeks, this helps me prioritise my decisions day to day.
I think an essential part of the goal setting process is setting out what you are going to do to get there. So we make a plan. Then we need to check in to see if we are following the plan. If you are not following the plan, then we need to ask is the plan realistic? Maybe you need to write this out or talk to a friend or coach about it. I like to write a few sentences about how each goal is going every week. If you are stuck, do you need help, more knowledge? If you are lacking time is there any way you can find more time by cutting back somewhere else or is there a way to make progress with a smaller time investment. Compassionate evaluation of your situation will help you work out what your road blocks are.
If we are working on an area of ourselves that we have recently neglected. Let’s take someone returning to exercise for example. If this person was doing no exercise and starts doing 10 minutes of movement every day this is huge progress. This is easy to see when we think of someone else but often we expect more from ourselves. This can be great motivation to challenge yourself as long as your all or nothing approach isn’t limiting you.
Where does yoga fit into all of this. Besides building strength and flexibility in the body yoga also offers you time and space to meet yourself where you are. This honest acceptance and relationship with yourself helps you to enjoy where you are, whilst exploring possibilities in the adventure of life.
