7 Goals
“The goal you set must be challenging. At the same time, it should be realistic and attainable, not impossible to reach. It should be challenging enough to make you stretch, but not so far that you break.” Rick Hansen
Two weeks ago I set exercise goals for myself for the month of November.
The plan included yoga and strength training 3x a week.
A few days into the month my right shoulder started acting up in a serious way. It bothers me day and night. Massage and Chiropractic care is helping, as is resting it, i.e no weight baring like yoga and strength training.
My November goals are no longer “realistic and attainable”. I need to amend my plan so that I stop feeling like I’m skipping out on workouts and instead set parameters that are good for my shoulder and the rest of my body too.
I also need to remember to celebrate my achievements. I walked and ran just over 25 miles last week, did 3 great Pilates workouts, and rode my bike a bit more than normal.
In other goal-related news, I stumbled upon the 101 goals in 1001 days site last week and have been pondering the idea of my own list ever since. As much as I love goal setting (and achieving!) I realized as I started to make a list that I like a very specific type of goal setting; short term and straight forward.
Monthly exercise goals are simple: you must do a little (or a lot depending on the goal) each day to reach your goal. You can fall behind for a day or two but after that there’s no way to catch up, which I like because it helps keep me motivated.
Just a little self-realization for me there. I need to set goals that are “…not impossible to reach” and don’t “break me”.
101 sound amazing but not for me at this time.
Instead I am setting 7 goals for the last 7 weeks of the year.
1. A photo a day.
2. 35 posts (5x a week).
3. Continue to be low refined-sugar. I’ve been working on reducing my refined sugar intake all year due to my challenged immune system. My goal is the consume a small-moderate serving of refined sugar less than 4 times a month. This allows for special occasions, serious cravings, and the random social cave-in.
4. Practice pausing before eating to see and smell my food and check in with my appetite. This is especially important to me as I go into the holiday season and all of it’s social eating festivities. I love it but I don’t love getting uncomfortably full because I forgot to pay attention as I ate.
5. Move. A lot. Exercise daily, even if it’s a 20 minute walk or a 10 minute Pilates workout. My mind and body need exercise even more than normal around the holidays to combat the darkness, the cold, the booze, the rich food, the travel, and to boost the immune system.
6. Plant bulbs so I have lots of flowers next year.
7. Shoot, I can’t think of a good 7th goal…got any ideas?
Happy Monday!
P.S Hey C’villians, I am starting a Wednesday evening mat Pilates class at my studio. 5:30-6:15pm, $5 (crazy, right?), drop-ins always welcome. Check the website for location and details. www.gracefulfitnesstraining.com
