Setting Goals That Stick: Part I

Here you are, one month into 2014 and despite the best of intentions you are still 10 kilograms / 20 pounds overweight and haven’t run any of the three Ultra-Marathons you said you would by the end of January.

How weak. How pathetic. Another load of good intentions down the drain. Another year you’ve let yourself go. Another year of lame excuses, no will power and no determination. But before you beat yourself up about it and give up on your health goals for 2014, let’s ask the question: Did you fail or did your goals fail you?

You’re kidding right? I’m the one who failed! I set the goal on New Year’s Day and I didn’t keep it. I’m weak. I’m soft. I’ve got no staying power. No wonder I’m fat. No wonder no one finds me attractive. No wonder I’m stuck in a job I don’t like. No wonder I’m – insert the thing you like least about yourself here…

So why do our New Year’s Resolutions only end up as a To Do list for the first week of January? Why don’t they stick? Why don’t we use them to become the people we would want to be? Do we all have willing minds but weak bodies?

Well what if the goal you set on January 1 with the best will in the world was one you could never meet? What if the goal itself meant you were doomed to fail?

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