Commit to a Goal

"The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach."
--Benjamin E Mays

I have been guilty of this in the past and actually guilty of it up until this post. People who know I am getting healthy will ask me how much I want to lose and I have avoided giving an answer. I usually just answer “a lot more”. No one wants to fail and no one wants to fail when people know the goal we are working towards.

Well, instead of worrying about saving face if we flop, we need to be able to stand up and state, loudly and proudly what our goal is. Making a commitment to a long term goal can be overwhelming. My long term goal.......drum roll please.....is to lose another 100 pounds. Whew, that seems pretty daunting even though I have already lost nearly 32 pounds. Think about it, 130 pounds is equivalent to an average woman! I want to lose an entire woman! There is something profound about needing to lose an entire woman in order to find the fabulous woman inside me.

I used to tell myself that as long as I got into “onederland” (anything under 200) I would be satisfied. The more I work at getting healthy I know that will not satisfy me. One, I want to be a weight watchers leader. In order to become a leader, you have to reach the weight watchers goal set for you. I was amazed when I found out that you can’t even be an assistant if you are not at goal. Two, I also know that it will be difficult to be a runner at a heavier weight and I really want to be a runner.

So even if you’re not ready to tell someone what your goal is, at the very least say your goal out loud to yourself. No more wishy washy, “Oh I really want to lose some weight.” That is a great (vague) goal, but you also need to have a road map of how you are going to get there and an address of your final destination. Up until today that has been my goal, but I never anounced my end point. “I want to lose weight.” I have had a road map. My map told me that I was going to attend weight watchers, follow the plan, drink my water, stay within my points, and exercise at least 5 days per week. Now I know where I am going to end up as well. Along with that find someone you can tell and be sure that person will check in with you to ask about your progress.

So my challenge to all of you is to set your goal. Say it out loud, write it on a piece of paper, and put it in your shoe so every time you take a step, you think about your goal. Tell someone you trust, and create the map that is going to get you to your goal.