I've never been one to set official "New Year's Resolutions," or even formal goals, for that matter. I had to set job-related goals when I was in the business world, but those were driven by the Man, and the activity was performed in a cubicle-induced haze. I set those goals because it was required of me, and more thought was put into what I thought my boss wanted to see, rather than what I really wanted to accomplish.
Last week my Beachbody Coach, Melissa Hudgens, sent me a link and a note to encourage me to try a 30-day challenge to master organization and achieve your goals. The challenge is hosted by Chalene Johnson, one of Beachbody's trainers (TurboFire, ChaleneExtreme, TurboJam). While I'm not a follower of Chalene's exercise programs, I have read her blog and have grown to appreciate her humor and outlook on life.
Since it's the beginning of a new year, and I'm starting a brand new business, I thought the challenge would be a good one. I'm on day seven, and I have already learned a lot about goals and goal setting.
The most profound thing I've learned is that simply setting a goal is worthless.
So many people set a resolution at the beginning of the year to "lose weight," or to "eat better." But what they don't think about is why they want to do those things. What is the motivation? The first five days of Chalene's challenge have you thinking about what is important to you. What are your values? What are your guiding principles? What are your priorities? Not until day four does she have us setting official goals, and when you do so, it's under the umbrella of the values and guiding principles that have already been established.
Several of the goals I made this year pertain to the success I want to achieve with my Team Beachbody business. My motivation for wanting to succeed in these goals is driven purely by the value I put in being a stay-at-home-mom. I want to be able to be active in my kids' lives, and I also want to contribute financially to my household. While we have no plans to move, the nature of my husband's business means that we could move at any time. It would be great to have a "portable" job that I can take with me wherever I go.
Spreading the word about health and fitness through Team Beachbody also supports the value that I see in trying to fight the trend of obesity and general unhealthiness that is so prevalent today.
Without motivation, the goals and resolutions set in early January are quickly thrown aside by mid-February. Because the going will get tough, and if your motivation to "lose weight" or "eat right" is either non-existent or externally-focused (e.g., "I really want to look good at that event in a few months"), your toughness will probably get going.
With 23 more days to go in my organization/goal-setting challenge, I'm sure there is much more to learn. But I do know that when my going gets tough, I'll think about the 40-hour-per-week desk job that is waiting for me if I can't make it work. (Turns out fear is a great motivator!)
If you have about 10 minutes per day for the next 30 days and want to go through the goal-setting exercise, it's not too late! Just sign up and you'll get an email each day that walks you through the process.
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Workout of the Day:
I'd like credit for a two-fer. Yesterday evening was the first Wednesday Workout of the new year up at Zach's school. It was about a 45-minute aerobic workout, followed by some abs.
We thought we might have a big turn-out after the holiday break, but we were wrong: only 10 people came yesterday. But we had a good time with the people who did come, and it was still a good workout.
This morning we did the first half of P90X Yoga. It's a nice workout to do after a Wednesday two-a-day.
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