I was listening to a podcast this morning on my morning walk and they discussed the importance of commitment over goals. It got me thinking. We are told by many people in our life, teachers, parents, even books on coaching to focus on the goals. Set your goals for the New Year, focus on what goals to attain, focus on your weight goal.Choose a really big fat goal; the bigger the better. Goal, goal, goal!
Problem for me is that if focus on the goal and I do not reach the goal because it is unrealistic, it makes me discouraged and then I start to doubt myself. That then turns into a feeling of running against the tide and nothing can be accomplished or nothing can get me to my goal.I feel deflated and it reinforces that the goal I chose was just too big for me.
The podcast was talking about instead of focusing on the goals, why not focus on the commitment which inevitably will get you to your goal. We all know and have heard that small steps over time add up to something large. By committing to a change that you can do daily that will end up helping you get to your goal is way more realistic and will set you up to succeed rather than to “fail.”
Making one change in the way you eat such as eating a proper healthy breakfast which will ensure that you do not get hungry until lunch and then eat whatever you can find is a great commitment to moving forward in your health journey. Making the commitment to walk daily or move your body in some way is another great commitment to literally moving forward in implementing healthier changes. These commitments make it possible to move forward.
Doing something because you love it and enjoy helping others is a great motivator to succeed instead of just focusing on the monetary goal.People will see through this and will see your enthusiasm and love for what you do which is contagious rather than out to make a buck or two. This is not to say that we should have no goals, but the focus should not be resting entirely on hitting the goal that can seem overwhelming.
There is so much pressure coming at us from different avenues especially for young adults. Perhaps if we start teaching them to make a commitment and to see it through and make it a part of our daily lives, then this is much less overwhelming and will actually propel us forward into reaching that goal. Moving forward creates confidence, confidence creates enjoyment and commitment.
The only goal we should be sticking to is making the commitment to do something that will eventually bring us to our goal.
What are your thoughts?