Saturday, September 7, 2013

The Setting of the Setting of Goals...


It may sound anal, but I plan before I plan.


Whenever I get ready to set a goal, I have a specific checklist of how I want to go about doing that.  Below is a before and after picture, taken within months of each other.  I lost about 30 pounds in three months.  I didn't starve myself, but I did have a regimen I followed.  Given that I'm getting ready to set a few goals, I wanted to make a list of what I did to accomplish one of my toughest goals (losing weight) and how I would incorporate that into accomplishing any future goal I plan to achieve.  Perhaps, it may even inspire...



1.  I incorporated spirituality into my regimen.  I'm just a spiritual person.  I'm a bit of a hippy, and I embrace that to the fullest.  So I'd prayed before I worked out.  This helped me.  It gave me strength, and it helped me to realize the more grounded sense of weight loss-staying healthy, as opposed to the superficial reasons of wanting to look good.  Although, I did want to look good as well.  I just didn't want to lose my sense of depth.  Basically, I wanted to remain kind... some people can do that without prayer.  I'm not one of those people.  

2.  I didn't just cut things out of my diet.  I cut certain things out of my life.  Certain things are just distracting.  I didn't date while I dieted.  I wanted to wait until I accomplished something for myself.  I took time to think about myself, where I wanted to be and how it would positively effect me once I did start dating again.  

3.  Nothing anyone said mattered to me.  People gave me all types of advice on what to do and what not to do when dieting.  It's extremely simple, eat right and exercise.  Maybe some people do need the extra motivation from a personal trainer.  No one trained me.  I just realized I was eating too damn much and wasn't exercising.  With that said, I ignored anyone who told me anything negative on what I wanted to accomplish.  A lot of people told me I was getting too skinny.  People accused me of starving myself.  Others thought I even got some type of surgery.  Please.  I just used willpower.  Everyone has it in them.  

4.  I didn't put others down.  One thing I notice A LOT with people is their inevitable abilities to get a little full of themselves.  I never teased people who were bigger than me.  You just have issues if you're one of those people and are begging karma to screw you over.  I also didn't think I was better than anyone else because I'd overcome my own barriers.  I just realized I was capable and used that as a push to accomplish something else that may be positive reinforcement to my self-esteem. 

5.  I believed in myself.  This was the precursor to my goal-setting.  

Before I even made my goal, I reminded myself of how capable I was to achieve it.  I psyched myself out.  I kept a calendar nearby and made sure to mark off each day I actually ate right and exercised.  Time may be at a standstill during a hardship, but there's been no scientific proof that time travel does exist.  Basically, the days will pass.  If you can reach your goal for one day, try it for the next.  Then, try one more.  Eventually, you'll see a month will pass you by and you'll either have reached your destination or hit a plateau.  

Either way, the next day will be beckoning... and the decision is yours to improve or give up.  Life waits for no one but you do have the option of beating its odds.  Stay focused, stay grounded and stay positive.