Plans Go Awry

It’s hard to believe we are two and a half months into the new year. By now, all those resolutions you made from good intentions should be pretty much gone by the wayside. But they were good for your health and wellbeing. Why let them go?

Rather than scrap them altogether, you should make some adjustments and reclaim them. After all, your health and happiness are too important. Accept the fact that life and work simply are not going to cooperate with you. Therefore, alter your plans and expectations so that you can execute them to your benefit.

When you first made your plans and goals, you probably made them assuming perfect conditions—your motivation will remain high. Time pressures will not interfere. The environment will be stable. As you well know, none of those assumptions are true. So the first time something was out of sync with what you anticipated, you experienced early failure because you probably spent little time thinking about when conditions aren’t perfect.

Resurrect Your Intentions

Now that you have a more realistic view of the situation, you have a second chance to make good on what you really want. Here are three tips to help you.

Do something. Consider a smaller version of your original intention. Since you can’t do the whole thing you planned, do a part of it. Go from “I’m going to change my diet and eat healthy this year” to “I’ll choose an apple instead of the donut this morning.”

Be consistent. Just like yesterday, choose a fruit instead of a pastry. The cumulative effect will provide momentum. The more you choose a fruit over a fattening artery clogger, you strengthen your discipline muscle so you can power through the passing temptation. It’s not that big a deal.

Think ahead. Make sure there are fruit options available BEFORE you have to choose. In other words, set yourself up ahead of time for success and no excuses. Then prepare yourself that when the donut appears, you will choose a fruit. It makes the choice easier when you have already made the decision.

These tips are applicable to just about anything you want to change. You deserve it and you owe it to yourself to invest in YOU.

Give Yourself A Break

Of course, there are times when you just can’t execute.  Allow for grace. You aren’t going for perfection, but consistency. When you fall short, dust yourself off and keep going. Don’t give up on the things that will make you better.

What is one thing you could resurrect from your pile of good intentions? How could you right-size it so that it is doable? If you do this one thing consistently, you will discover that it will ripple into other areas as well. You deserve your better efforts. Don’t give up.