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I had the experience of looking at something through the eyes of a child this past Christmas. There was a toy received as a gift that made him so excited he stated he’d been waiting all year for this toy. The funny part was this toy was released three month prior to Christmas. Time for a child takes forever to pass because they don’t really have goals, deadlines or milestones to reach. The world they live in is a steady routine of getting dressed, eating, school, playtime, homework, eating, bath time and bed. Time for them drags on as they get bored easily unless they have new stimuli through toys, games, shows or interaction with others to keep them interested.
As an adult we also have a routine. We too have to get dressed, deal with kids and spouses getting ready, head to work, deal with homework while preparing dinner, spend time with the kids and partner, and then get them ready for bed. We hope to have a few minutes to do things we want or need to take care of before it starts all over the next day.
Sometimes, you have an interest in making some changes to improve your life. If you decided to change your health for example you still must do all those other things for your family as you were doing before but now you add in exercise, proper eating and prepping for work and special events. Being healthier means preparing foods that will help you achieve your health goals while at the same time feeding your family what they love and enjoy, which can cause you double work in food prep time.
If you have larger milestones in mind they have to go with the family, health changes and responsibilities. Let’s say you want to start a business and you have to spend all your free time after the kids are put to bed to take care of creating product, paperwork, shipping, social media, web sites, emails and more. Now remember you didn’t drop any of the other things you were doing all you did was add to the list.
During this process you set some deadlines for yourself and you do everything in your control to hit those goals. Then your child gets sick or family comes into town unexpectedly or work has a major project and you have to put in extra hours, so you end up not working on the business for a few days or weeks and before you know it that deadline you had set goes right out the window. Life is full of interruptions on a daily basis depending on how many kids you have, your work schedule and the projects, your spouse or partner and their needs, homes, automobiles, bills, family obligations and so forth.
Juggling all of these things can make you feel overwhelmed at times.
Several of my goals I have put off in the last year or so due to these exact things I’ve described. I needed to grow and change before I had the strength and wisdom to handle what life has to throw my way and still meet deadlines I set for myself. Sometimes, your not ready and only you can determine when you will be as it’s an individual thing we all need to decide for ourselves.
For me personally I needed to go through a season of growth. I read more books on various subjects dealing with the very goals I was attempting to attain. I went to more seminars, joined more webinars, took a few classes, added in coaching and a mastermind group, asked friends for encouragement and reevaluated my goals.
I found too that when I set a goal I also don’t give myself any grace for the obstacles that could come along to prevent me from meeting that goal. If it wasn’t in your control then why are you beating yourself up? In the process, I also found that there are seasons for everything, learning, growing, creating, giving and more. Just as there are seasons of challenges depending upon the age of those around you and their needs.
Do yourself a favor and show yourself some grace. The storms that come always pass. What storm are you in the middle of right now in your life? Is it health, family, financial or job related? Have you set goals in a time frame that are attainable? Did you take into consideration all aspects of your goal before setting a deadline?
It is important to look at those goals each month and allow a few moments to review what was accomplished, what needs to be accomplished and if you need to change your time frame based on that review. It’s also important to make adjustments if necessary if life has added new things to your life.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t meet a deadline to a goal. Adjust it as you would the sails to your boat and keep moving forward until you reach it. Is the date going to matter that much if it’s a few weeks or a month later than you wanted? The important part is to reach the destination with a sense of accomplishment and confidence that you did it.
Do you need to adjust a goal or show yourself some grace today?
Blessings!
Lisa