I was really out of it this morning when I went to the gym because I hopped right on the elliptical machine and it wasn't until I was halfway done with my 40 minutes that I realized that I was actually supposed to do a speed workout today! Oops. First I was really irritated with myself but then I thought that I will just do the speed workout tomorrow, no big deal. But still, DUH! I guess being preoccupied with my groups yesterday and staying up late after they left to catch up with the latest news about the political crisis here in Belgium took a toll on my brain!
Yesterday I chose not to swim and instead had a hot chocolate in the café at the sports hall, while I worked on a writing project. It was just too dang cold to even think about getting in that pool! It wasn't a devastatingly bad choice (like skipping a Sunday long run or devouring a pizza at 10 pm would be!), but I was still a bit disappointed with myself, even though at the same time I didn't want to be too hard on myself. I find it hard to know if I am walking a good middle ground between the two extremes of "it doesn't make any difference if you slip up" and "every little mistake undermines your determination and motivation and makes it even harder to reach your goal". My hope is to get to a balanced and healthy place between these two mind sets!
If there was one important lesson that came out of my groups' discussions yesterday, it was that you do need to make any goal you have a priority project in your life and you can't let the everyday chaos of life get in the way of it. It's so easy to let ourselves be distracted by all kinds of other things and then feel stressed out and put upon when we think about, on top of all that, working on our goal. It helps to remember that we all choose our goals ourselves, and in most cases, no one is making us undertake these challenges. So if we choose to do it, we can choose to do it well, do it poorly, or quit and do something else. It's a choice, not an obligation!
The other lesson was that success can sometimes be dangerous! Especially if we allow it to let us get complacent. When things are going well we sometimes let our guard down, slack off, and think we are getting away with it! You think things are going so great, that you stop paying attention and you start to slip. It is a slippery slope, however, and once you start sliding down it, it's very hard to get yourself turned around and back in the right direction again. So the lesson is to be vigilant and avoid those slippery slopes like the plague!
Yesterday I chose not to swim and instead had a hot chocolate in the café at the sports hall, while I worked on a writing project. It was just too dang cold to even think about getting in that pool! It wasn't a devastatingly bad choice (like skipping a Sunday long run or devouring a pizza at 10 pm would be!), but I was still a bit disappointed with myself, even though at the same time I didn't want to be too hard on myself. I find it hard to know if I am walking a good middle ground between the two extremes of "it doesn't make any difference if you slip up" and "every little mistake undermines your determination and motivation and makes it even harder to reach your goal". My hope is to get to a balanced and healthy place between these two mind sets!
If there was one important lesson that came out of my groups' discussions yesterday, it was that you do need to make any goal you have a priority project in your life and you can't let the everyday chaos of life get in the way of it. It's so easy to let ourselves be distracted by all kinds of other things and then feel stressed out and put upon when we think about, on top of all that, working on our goal. It helps to remember that we all choose our goals ourselves, and in most cases, no one is making us undertake these challenges. So if we choose to do it, we can choose to do it well, do it poorly, or quit and do something else. It's a choice, not an obligation!
The other lesson was that success can sometimes be dangerous! Especially if we allow it to let us get complacent. When things are going well we sometimes let our guard down, slack off, and think we are getting away with it! You think things are going so great, that you stop paying attention and you start to slip. It is a slippery slope, however, and once you start sliding down it, it's very hard to get yourself turned around and back in the right direction again. So the lesson is to be vigilant and avoid those slippery slopes like the plague!
3 comments:
I know how you feel! Don't feel too bad about the hot chocolate/skipped swim. In general, if the trend is going the way towards meeting your goal, and you only have a few times going the opposite, you are ok. A bit of nuturing yourself does a lot of good too. :)
There's always a fine line between not ignoring the fact that a mess up occurred and beating yourself up over it. It should never be ignored - that would show a lack of accountability. On the other hand, beating yourself up over it is too negative to be of any use. The fact that you owned up to it shows you held yourself accountable, so I think that is as far as anyone needs to go. Sometimes these mess-ups can actually be blessings in disguise with actual net positive effects. Maybe the extra "rest day" will make your next day more productive.
In my case, the plague is the slippery slope. I've got to get over this crap and get back on the road.
You are so right, it has to be a goal that you put in front of you every day and make important. Otherwise our busy lives just take over.
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