It’s a couple of weeks into January – the biggest month for setting resolutions, and for many people, failing miserably at them.
I’m not a big fan of resolutions; however, I am a big fan of setting goals, exploring what I need to do to reach those goals, what is working, what isn’t, and tweaking my process along the way.
One of the biggest reasons why people fall of the wagon around this time is that they didn’t uncover their why. Why do you want to do whatever it is that you are doing?
Why do you want to:
- Lose weight
- Decrease stress
- Experience happiness
- Start or end a relationship
- Move beyond managing anxiety…
What is your why? Without the why, there often isn’t an emotional drive to reach our goals. There’s no reward that lights up our brain and sends a rush of feel-good hormones into our bodies. In order to reach a goal, and develop the stick-with-it-ness that’s often required to “get there,” emotional drive is a necessity.
Maybe your why is that you are experiencing tremendous stress. Your health is in the shitter. Your doctor has told you that you need to do something about this…NOW…your stress is impacting your relationship, your ability to perform on the job AND…
…you don’t want to drop dead at that pick up basketball game you play once a month with your friends.
…you want to be able to play with your kids.
…you love your spouse/partner and want to see the relationship work.
Let’s not stop there though. One of my favorite questions to ask clients is “what else?“. Or, “tell me more about that.” Dig deeper.
What else about not wanting to experience a heart attack while playing basketball? What else? What else?
What else about wanting to play with your kids? Tell me more about that.
What else? Tell me more. Once we get to the why behind the why, we create space not just for motivation for when times get challenging (and they will), but also for a mindset shift to remove the blocks that hold us back from reaching our goals in the first place.
What resolution have you set for 2018?
What steps can you take today to shift the resolution into a goal?
What’s your why? What’s your why behind the why? Tell me so that I can support you in reaching your short and long-term goals.
Love, Amanda Leigh
Amanda Leigh Patti 