Goals Update – February 2016

Earlier this year, I wrote posts on How to Plan Your Best Year Ever and What to Do When You’re Feeling Stuck.  Both of these posts focus on the long-term, but if you want to accomplish long-term goals, you need to create small goals and continually check in on your progress.

For the past week, I decided to focus on my health – physical, mental, and spiritual – because that’s where I’ve been struggling the most lately.  Here were my goals for the past week.

Fitness

1. Exercise at least 5x per week. Incorporate strength training as well instead of only doing cardio!  Stick to arm/leg workouts (no abs or glutes).
2. Do yoga for 10 minutes in the evening at least 2x this week.

Pass or fail? PASS. 

Because of some physical health issues, I was struggling to do certain types of exercises that require laying down (like crunches, etc) or doing certain yoga poses like downward dog.  I realized recently that this is silly!

I shouldn’t skip yoga or strength training altogether just because there are certain exercises I can’t do right now.  I can still do yoga and strength training – I just need to modify them a little bit.  For yoga, I’ll focus on sitting and standing poses, and for strength training, I’ll emphasize arm and leg workouts instead of abs/glutes.

Diet

1. No protein bars.
2. Have nuts and dried fruit as much as possible instead of banana chips/plantain chips and other processed foods.

Pass or fail? FAIL.

I’ve really been struggling with this one.  My diet is already pretty boring healthy, and I get tired of eating the same foods over and over.  I also am a major chocolate addict (which makes protein bars tempting) and I LOVE salty foods (like plantain chips) way too much.

If I want to be more successful with my goal of making my diet even healthier than it already is, I probably need to first find foods that I really like and that are also very healthy.

Mental Health

1. Attend weekly therapy appointment for anxiety.
2. Spend time every evening reading The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook.

Pass or fail? PASS. 

This was a hugely important goal for this past week, and I made it a priority.  I sometimes hesitate to post things related to mental health on the blog, but I think it’s important to openly talk about mental illness.  We need to get rid of the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, and let others who are struggling know that they are not alone.

Faith

1. Attend weekly church service.
2. Read the Bible for at least 5 minutes daily.
3. Download She Reads the Truth app.

Pass or fail? PASS. 

I surprised myself by reading quite a bit more than 5 minutes per day.  I wanted to start small so I wouldn’t get frustrated and give up.  When I was reading a Bible with tiny font that was hard to read, I wasn’t feeling very motivated.

Once I downloaded the She Reads The Truth app (which is free!), I’ve been so much more motivated.  The font is big, the app is well organized, and I pretty much live on my phone, so it’s convenient.

If you’re not feeling motivated about a goal, try changing your approach to the goal.  Being unmotivated doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re being lazy or that your goal isn’t important to you – it could mean you just need to change your approach.

What are your goals for the coming week?

Other stuff you might like:

My Summer Bucket List
How I Lost 35 Pounds by Changing My Diet
The “Our Next Life” Series
(Frugality) Lessons Learned from a Sprained Ankle
30 Days of Gratitude