Setting the Right Goal
Updated: Feb 12, 2020
One of the things I really struggle with is staying in balance. I get hit by the next new idea, new crazy and I’m off running, breathlessly hoping for a miraculous turnaround to whatever problem I’m working on. Unfortunately, this doesn’t ever work out. I burn out, I decide it’s too much work, so I wake up one day and just forget that I’m working toward a goal. Out go whatever progress I made.
Over the last several years, I’ve read some pretty grounding books, anything from parenting to scheduling to menu planning. Some of them have started out with a call to arms, sometimes a punch in the gut, attempting as best they can to motivate me to some higher goal. But the most helpful ones have been the ones that ask me to slow down, assess the situation, make some very broad conclusions about my life, and then simply change a thing or two at a time. The most important thing they have emphasized is being mindful in the present.
I have historically labeled myself as someone who is disorganized and distractible but who can really pull some fantastic feats when properly motivated and focused. The key is usually being under a deadline or feeling extraordinarily good one particular day this month. If that sounds familiar(especially the deadline part) then you can relate to the struggle. I swing dramatically between days when I get seemingly nothing done and go to bed exhausted, discouraged, and guilty, and days when I don’t want to go to bed because I don’t want the tornado of productivity to be interrupted by anything!
Back to the wisdom I’ve gained through the years of struggle and research: The most important and life-changing progress happens a little bit at a time in the everyday setting. It’s the concept of baby steps. It’s the idea of paying attention to EVERYTHING you’re eating. It’s the idea of “staying active.” Its wholly the idea that every little thing you do matters. God talks about “whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God.” We(or at least I) tend to filter out “unimportant” tasks to my subconscious, and consequently, I get to the end of the day dehydrated, having eaten all kinds of things that make me feel sick, never having set a foot outside or done anything to move my body, with a house full of clutter because I didn’t put anything away after I finished using it.
The simple breakdown is that paying attention, slowing and calming down, and making small incremental changes are what makes the difference in achieving goals. I’m never going to say that being ambitious is bad, but it can do a whole lot to hurt its own cause by catching us up in a whirlwind of activity that is teetering with imbalance, occasionally feeding us with surges of motivation, but usually leaving us tired and frustrated.
So, I’m welcoming you to my journey to be more mindful about life. The goal is a life in balance, achieved with focus and intentionality.
