Think As Inc

Dealing With Setbacks

May 10, 2010 on 1:53 am | In life coaching | No Comments

Flexibility is critical to sticking to your goals.  This is not contradictory.  Flexibility is not giving up.  Flexibility gives yourself the freedom to choose the best path to reach your goals.  Achieving goals is not a linear process.  There are setbacks and plateaus along the way.  To overcome these, you need flexibility in three key areas 

YOUR STRATEGY.  You need a strategy for achieving your goal.  However, your strategy may not work.  When I set out to lose weight, I adopted a weight training regimen from a respected fitness magazine.  It wasn’t working, and a trainer suggested an alternative.  It was contrary to what I was doing, but it worked!  Stick to your goal, not to your strategy.  Be flexible enough to adapt your initial plan when necessary. 

YOUR TIMELINE.  It’s good to have a timeline for achieving small successes along the way to your ultimate goal.  If you want to lose weight, target one pound at a time.  However, successes don’t always come regularly.  You may hit a plateau, where you keep working, but nothing changes.  You need extra time to pull out of these plateaus.  Be flexible and patient, so you don’t just throw out your goal with your initial timeline.

YOUR ASSUMPTIONS.  When you pick a goal, it is because you have certain assumptions about what it means to achieve it.  Sometimes you’re wrong.  Weight loss was my goal because I was more confident at a former, lighter weight.  However, after achieving my target weight, I still wasn’t confident.  My goal expanded and included trying new styles, improving my posture, and reaching a healthy weight.  Flexibility means realigning your goals to your true needs, so what you get in the end is what you really wanted.