Episode 505 – Don’t wait with your goals

• Its that time of year
• I felt it on Monday – the first Monday of November
• Somehow I felt the energy and the frenzy in the air
• Holiday season
• The end of the year approaching
• People getting stuff done
• Preparing for gifting season, eating season, family time
• As you might know – this time of year is not my favorite
• If I was rich and could do what I want, I would probably take off right about now
• Into warmer lands
• Into quieter lands
• Where there is no rush for anything
• This is the season I am battling with negative thoughts more often
  • With sadness
  • Regret
  • Wishful thinking
• I am just not as motivated as I am in the spring and the summer
• There are many reasons
  • The goals I haven’t yet accomplished are weighing on my back
  • the progress that I don’t seem to be able to make on the things that are important to me sometimes wants me to throw it all away
  • The shorter days make me feel time runs even faster
  • The weather is gloomier
  • And there is to much candy around during these next 2 months
  • Requiring more of my energy to resist
  •  
• Of course there are some things I enjoy about this season
  • The colors of Fall are beautiful
  • Fewer people are outside in nature, especially early in the mornings – which pulls me outside more often
  • In fact,
  • I noticed that in Fall and winter, I find it easier to get up earlier
    • Maybe because the sun rises earlier
    • Maybe because I go to bed earlier
  • I took notice of that this week,
  • when I reflected that I have been quite successful in implementing my daily morning yoga practice over the last couple of weeks
  • Despite the house being colder and the bed warmer
  • I get up and do yoga
  • And this isn’t the first time
  • I tend to restart my morning routine during the colder months
  •  
• As you may know I have talked about getting back into a morning routine but it has been hard
• Not because I couldn’t get up,
• But often I went to the gym or for a run, instead of doing Yoga
• Summer and the warmer days give me tons of energy and I find it hard to find stillness
• But I always miss those quiet mornings
• And now I have finally prioritized what is most important to me
  • that quiet start to my day
• I do my cardio now mostly at night, only go to the gym one morning a week for a boot camp class that I really like
• And I have noticed a change in my day when I begin the day with Yoga
  • I am calmer and more at peace about the often stressful events during my day
  • My energy feels somehow more … levelled
  • I stand up straighter
  • My back is less stiff and this makes my evening gym workout easier
• My morning practice, that I started at the end of October helped me realize yet again the importance of not waiting, and just starting
• All year long I wanted to get back into yoga
• And for a million reasons, I didn’t
• And now it did
• I contemplated not doing it at all and instead just adding it to my goals for next year
• But then I really wanted to do yoga
• I know how good it makes me feel
• So I started
• This is not my entire goal
• I really want an hour every morning for yoga, mediation, maybe even some reading or journaling
• But I started with one thing
• I want to get consistent with yoga and then add on from there
•  
• What is your goal?
• What is something you really want to do, try or continue?
• What is something you wanted to do this year but didn’t get around to
• Or something you’re holding off on – because you think its not worth starting
  • Now, that its holiday season
  • Now, that the year is almost over anyway
  • Assuming you will have January 1^st secured?
  • The idea of time, especially future time is comforting
    • “Oh, ill do that later – tomorrow – next week, next month”
  • But the only time that is secure is the time we have right now
  • Future thinking, to me is useless, when we don’t take any steps at all
  • Future thinking only works when we are actually working our way towards it
  • Its very hard to start something major right out of the gate
  • That is why so many new years resolutions fail
  • We introduce a complete new routine or habit into our already very structured life
    • We start off well because the will and the motivation carry us through
    • But at the slightest challenges, often brought on by our environment, we fail
    • Its normal
    • We are not prepared
    • We don’t know what challenges will hit us
  • Take my yoga routine
  • For the longest time I wanted that one hour –
  • But when I didn’t get out of bed in time or had other things planned, I didn’t do anything
  • Until one morning I finally said – I have 20 min – I can at least do yoga
  • And that’s how I began
    • Easing into my morning routine
    • Into a larger goal
    • With small steps
  • The one hour goal was to much
  • Ambitious, but not doable for me
  • Most of the big goals I have started, started with failure
  • We don’t like to plan on failure
  • We think we can do it
  • And when we can’t we give up
  • I want to tell you today:
    • Start
    • Start again
    • Try
  • At whatever stage you are with your ideas, your goals, your passions
  • But start
    • One step:
    • Maybe that step is 5 min long
    • Maybe its 5 sentences long
    • Maybe its 5 pages
    • 5 miles
    • 5 ideas
    • 5 poses
    • 5 reps
  • Define your first step of your major goal and take that step today
  • Do not wait any longer
    • For a future moment in time that you don’t have secured
    • That you only use as cushion to excuse yourself
  • Start today and consider it practice for your big goal
    • You get to fail
    • You get to try out what works
    • You can revise and refine and adjust
  • And when January 1^st hits, or whatever other arbitrary future Start date you set for yourself – you are prepared
    • You know what things may derail you,
    • You know what to watch out for
    • You are ready
  • Because every time we fail and get back up, we learn more about ourselves
  • And we can use that knowledge in many ways
    • Maybe set a more realistic goal
    • To change our expectations
    • And to prepare appropriately
  • You can accomplish so much between now and the new year
  • Maybe you even complete your goal between now and the end of the year
    • Did I tell you I started a biweekly newsletter?
    • The idea for it came to me a couple of months ago
    • And one day I just started writing it
    • And since I wanted to keep it short, it was done very quickly
    • I edited a few time and on Monday shipped it
    • For a couple of months I considered it and wrote it under my goals, but I didn’t really think I would get to it
    • Well – now its done and that’s one goal I don’t need to carry into next year
  • Please subscribe if you want to stay connected
  • You can go to my also newly revised website – another project I am finishing up, page by page – and scroll to the bottom and enter your email there
  • I plan to send it out every other Monday with the intention to get you to think, reflect and stay connected with me

• Don’t wait with your goals
• The future is not certain
• If you have motivation, time and some of the required resources – start now
• Every day is a new opportunity to start over
• You failed yesterday, so today you try again, slightly modified
• Practice
  • Cant make it to the gym 3x per week – Go one day a week
  • Don’t have time for an hour walk – Walk 10 min
  • Want to start a website or blog but don’t have time – start writing anyway and gathering content and ideas to be used later
  • Don’t have money for those expensive in-person classes –
  • Read a book about the topic of your interest and then buy an online class that is cheaper
• Feel you way into that big goal
• Read, write, collect information
• There is always something we can do
• Take a small step
• Make a small investment
• Give it a try

And do it now

Much love