Jackie Warner says…

by

in response to our winner MESSYMIMI’s question of:

Once you have reached one goal, how do you not sit on your laurels and get yourself geared up to reach another?


Self-esteem comes from setting small daily goals and achieving them.

I like to set one large long-term goal and then several easy short term goals that are attainable.

When it comes to health and fitness, good short term goals are things like making to sure to drink three liters of water a day (burns 75-100 calories); eating one more vegetable and fruit a day (to speed up the metabolism); switching from processed foods to organic; and replacing factory farmed meats and dairy to free range and hormone free.

Most people I know don’t get up and exercise because they love to.

They do it because they know how good they’ll feel afterward.

It’s the same with setting those big goals.

Once you’ve hit them, you know it’s something that no one can ever take away from you.

Imagine how proud you’ll feel once you DO complete that next goal. Take a good imaginary look at the situation and soak it all in.

Ask any Olympic athlete; if you see it, you can achieve it.

Thank you for all the great questions and comments!

I have to add that I agree with Jackie 100%.

As Ive gotten older Ive discovered fitness is no longer about each goal I hit (or don’t).

For me it’s about living each day with the backdrop of my healthy living mission statement (Yes, for those of you playing along at home it is INDEED the Fitness Mission Statement™ about which Im always nagging).

These goals (Leading a healthy, vibrant energetic life & serving as a role model for my daughter and others) are ones which as long as I’m here Ill never completely ‘reach’ & (in a great way) never allow any laurel sitting.

And you?

Are you a laurel-sitter?  Do you have trouble finding your motivation after achieving a goal?

How have you worked to overcome this?

Or, like Ms. JW, do you focus on the bigpictureLONGHAUL & and keep right on going after hitting a goal?

Might you have some tips for the rest of us to steal share?

Please to hit us all up in the comments.

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Comments

  1. Miz and Jackie, I am not a laurel sitter I tend to quit before I REACH the goals 🙂

    Any tips for that?

  4. I think there is a downside to goals. And that is, once you’ve hit them (or your target weight) then you are done. And when you get done, well, sometimes that’s it. So I agree with MIZ (natch) that the goal becomes a lifestyle. For me that is to incorporate exercise and healthy eating in such a way that it becomes pleasurable and enjoyable. If I hate it, I don’t have enough internal fortitude to keep it up for long. So I keep changing things up, doing different things until I find one that I love and look forward to. Right now, that is cycling. In the past it’s been exercise classes and running.

  5. Hey Miz,

    After my weightloss, I knew I needed to be passionate about keeping the weight off, and that meant setting new goals to feel successful. I wanted to try new things! I tried fencing, karate, rock climbing, etc. Eh..not really for me.

    The first big goal was getting a road bike and doing a 50 mile ride. Loved it!

    After that, a triathlon! It was a fabulous experience and I can’t wait to do more next year.

    But after the tri, I felt a little let down…didn’t feel motivated and felt stuck. Working through the muck for a few months, I focused on other things, especially growing a veggie garden. Pretty soon I felt like my old athlete self again and then I took up hiking. When I was losing weight, I never even thought of doing a triathlon or hiking a mountain, but here I am. As we set goals and achieve them, we become more confident and successful, which leads us to set more goals.

    My advice is to expand your horizons and be open to new things. You never know… 🙂

  8. I tend to take a goal and break it into chunks because I have a really short attention span. I like to call them HIIT goals…because they are short and intense just like the workouts.

    Once I “HIIT” the small goal, I start chiseling away at the next one.

  9. My problem seems to be that I focus on different goals in another area once I achieve a goal. Weight loss, book draft, cleaning. Then I totally ignore the other goals I achieved and they slip away.

    I also seem to have a hard time not feeling overwhelmed if I have a lot of pressure (for me it can be goals) in many areas.

    Any thoughts on those problems?

  11. I guess I am a laurel sitter:( I don’t set goals unless I see a need for them. And reading this makes me realize that I should always have something to work towards, could be any aspect of my life.

  12. Sometimes I really do enjoy exercising (sorry!) but sometimes, I don’t. One trick I’ve used is to decide that once I’m going to do something, like get out to a jog or to the gym, I then put my brain on auto-pilot to get myself ready and out the door. Sometimes we think too much for our good! This is particularly useful on a rainy, gray day. Also, I have some nonchanging exercises (calisthenics, sit ups, push ups) but then switch up others from time to time, to keep it fresh and enjoyable.

  13. I’ve thought about this a great deal lately and I think what trips me up is it hit a goal and celebrate …. with food.

    Anyone else?

  14. The word “goal” has pretty much always had a negative connotation for me. It’s only been recently that I have figured out why: it’s because I never really knew what I wanted and so I would take on other people’s goals. And when I did that, the minute I stated a goal out loud, the mental brakes would slam on.

    But even though I know that now, I still have a hard time setting goals and I think it’s because I am not detail-oriented. I like the idea of big-picture commitments (and I love the idea of a mission statement). This works for me.

  15. Thank you! I agree, because if you are just getting in shape for a particular event, once you get there you will feel you can just quit. You made the goal.

    Instead, it has to be a life goal, to be as healthy as possible every day.

  16. I use to be a laurel sitter based on how I could help others or something on the intellectual side of life. It all changed when I looked at my life as a whole..with 8 different areas. Now, I achieve something every day because it isn’t just in one area!

  17. Love both Jackie & Mizfit’s answers. If the journey is the goal, then you never have to worry about laurel sitting, but those small specific goals along the way (drinking the water, C25k, etc.) create the journey.

  20. I think it’s important to constantly add new goals as you get close to attaining old goals. Keep changing things up, keep things fresh. Apparently runners do this by registering for future races, which means that I need to start looking beyond my big race in November. Hmmm…wish I could decide which number to do in Austin…

  21. I’m no laurel-sitter, although I admit I do perch there from time to time. I have long term goals, which I break down into short term goals. Some advance nicely, and I struggle with others. As long as I continue moving forward, I’m okay with it.

  22. Not a laurel sitter when it comes to health & fitness. I write it often & I will say it here again: I am a work in progress, always!

    I always find ways to change it up & to me, there is always something to try when it comes to heath & fitness. I can always try to improve!

  23. Ooo, I love this post – has got me thinking what sort of goal achiever am I, hmmm…
    I don’t think I’m laurel sitter, but I have always been a case of slow and steady and because of that my short term goals tend to re-jigged pretty regularly but all the time I am bit-by-bit working away at getting to my long term goals.

  24. “Most people don’t get up and exercise because they love to” I am the oddity:) Love the goal-setting advice – I really need it because I am sooo bad at that!

  25. What spoke to me was this:

    “Once you’ve hit [your goal], you know it’s something that no one can ever take away from you.”

    Oh heck yeah. I’ve found that having athletic goals (my quarterly race schedule) serve as both a goal and a reward for putting in the day-to-day training. I’ve found that the rush of finishing an event helps me look forward to the next one. So if I take a little rest in between, it’s never for very long.

    I’ve also found that my athletic goals helped me once my weight stabilized, because that is an area where there is always room for improvement and growth and new experiences.

  26. Honestly I stopped setting big time goals that I would continue to fail at reaching. Instead, I have one goal in mind: overall health and fitness. Getting in the gym each day or every other day pushes me towards this goal. Eating right helps. I just stop setting unatainable goals for myself because none of the little ones matter to me, just the big picture.

  27. I have been a laurel sitter in a big way for a long time. I do hope that I’ve set my mind right to move past that and not do so further. As it has been said, each day has a goal within it. If you sit on yesterdays sucees, then what chance have you at success today? Just that, you leave it to chance.

  28. I did lose 50 pounds, but now I’m sitting on my laurels. So, those short term goals sound just right to help me lose another 40 pounds…maybe I’ll plan to eat healthy and go to the gym one day at at time. Then leading a healthy, vibrant life will fall into place one day at a time too. Well, that’s what I’m thinking now.

  29. Couldn’t agree more! I try to look at fitness in the “big picture” sense, as opposed to day-to-day or goal-by-goal. I just try to generally “sit less” with each day that passes and do things I enjoy that keep me active. I have found that this works for me.

    “For me it’s about living each day with the backdrop of my healthy living mission statement” — Right On!!!!!

    PS: Thanks for stopping by my blog! Love ya Miz!

  31. Hi Jackie,

    I wonder what you’d think of http://www.mysomeday.com. I came across this site on the Huffington Post and its proved to be a really great goal-achievement tool for me. I made a list of some of the big goals in life (http://bit.ly/4ry7f6) and then put together step-by-step plans of attack for most of the goals. Its letting me track my progress as well and that has really helped me keep momentum going. I actually had a goal to Get Out of Credit Card Debt (http://bit.ly/9qb7w5) and by following my Plan, I made it happen. The sense of satisfaction was overwhelming and it made me want to chase the rest of my goals that much harder.

    Would love to get your thoughts on this goal-achievement tool.

    Thanks,
    ST

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