Three Steps to Stay Focused on What You Want
One of my favorite things to hear in yoga is “Check in with yourself. How are you doing on your intention?”
Another favorite: “When you’re ready, we reset.”
It’s a gentle nudge. No assumption. No judgment. A simple, yet powerful reminder to realign with your intention and reclaim your focus.
So, that’s what this is today. A gentle reminder to check in with you and the goals you’ve set for yourself.
For my overachiever friends out there, you’re not getting a report card. This is just for you.
Need help setting your goal? Read this article: Making Great Plans for a Happy New Year.
Or, check out my January Reset worksheet.
Reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work can help us to improve. And that’s what we’re going for here. You want better health, better sleep, a longer run . . . and you’re working toward it.
Is It Okay to Make Adjustments?
When you don’t do everything you had planned, or don’t hit your goal it can be discouraging. This can happen for a number of reasons. Our heart wasn’t in it. The goal was too big. We didn’t set ourselves up for success. Circumstances got in the way.
Checking in and making adjustments is designed to help us refocus rather than lose site of or hope for where we are heading.
If you read my article Making Great Plans for a Happy New Year, you know that my friend Molly is working on drinking more water. Within a few days we checked in and she found that her goal to drink three bottles of water a day was a bit ambitious to start. Three bottles is a big leap from one half of a bottle. So, we adjusted. Her daily goal became to drink more than the day before. And she will work her way up to three bottles. She will. I know it!
If you’re finding that your goal was too big. Or the change you’re trying to achieve is feeling overwhelming. It’s okay to take it down a notch.
Take it down to build back up in smaller increments.
You’ve heard the term “baby steps” before, the idea of celebrating smaller, more attainable accomplishments that give us the gratification and confidence to continue working.
A similar idea is “micro-sucks,” which comes from one of my favorite resources: The Huberman Lab Podcast. In the episode on How to Increase Tenacity and Willpower, Andrew Huberman introduces this concept of micro-sucks: deliberately doing something that’s more difficult than what you would like, but only slightly and only for a short duration.
This inherently involves some effort to overcome some level of friction. It could be lifting an extra set of weights or pushing yourself to do jumping jacks at the end of a long run or standing in a cold shower for 30 seconds. It sucks at the time, but in the end it helps build up our strength, endurance, our tenacity and willpower. He gives of snippett of this idea in this Youtube short.
So yes, you may have a vision for a very big change at the end of January or the end of this year. But, we have to take it one step and one micro-suck at a time.
One step. One micro-suck at a time.
With that in mind, let’s see how you’re doing.
Check In With Yourself
Go back through the goal(s) you set and do a quick review. This should only take a few minutes.
I recommend this as a weekly assessment, but this could also work as an end-of-day check-in, too.
1. Count your wins!
*Take note of actions you took in service of your goal. Take note of those times you worked toward your goal.
Progress is progress and you are doing it!
2. Assess.
Approach yourself with kindness and curiosity as you ask:
*What worked?
*What got in the way?
*How can your resources help?
3. Get ready for the next phase.
Take what you’ve learned from this first week (or today) and apply it to tomorrow:
*What do you want to continue?
*What/where will you adjust?
***
Remember, we are not striving for perfect. We are trying for better. And I’m so proud of you for trying.
Again, a gentle reminder to check in with where you are and adjust as you need to.
You are doing it!
Be well, my lovelies.
Margaret Faintich is on a mission to help us all live in a world where taking care of our health and wellness is the norm. Where we can eat nutritious and delicious food every day because they are the same and that’s just how we live.
She shares inspiration and guidance through the lens of mind, body and spirit.
Margaret Faintich is the founder of B’Vive Co. and a Nutritious Life Master Certified Nutrition and Wellness Coach.
She is a yoga lover and OrangeTheory Fitness enthusiast.
Leave a Reply