Motivation Monday| Learning to love the process

One of my major areas of opportunity has to be how little patience I have when it comes to getting results.  After setting a goal, I instantly want it achieved.  Meanwhile, I'm often failing to place any significance on the process required to achieve the goal.  If, and when, the goals is achieved, I totally neglect to maintain the process that got me there in the first place.  I've seen this behavior happen over and over again in my fitness & skin care journey.

I know for a fact that this type of behavior doesn't serve me.  Worst of all, I keep finding myself back to square one in with many of my goals.  Now I'm ready to let go of that way of doing things.  From now on, I want to maintain the mindset of "loving the journey" rather than sitting in the back seat constantly asking "are we there yet."  

One of the root causes of why I stop being consistent could be related to the fact that I'm solely focused on the end result.

Instead of setting a goal like this one: "I am going to work out 3-5 times a week."
I set a goal like this: "I am going to lose 5 lbs."

So then I work out, eat right, lose the 5lbs and feel like I can stop "doing all the things" because I don't need to lose the 5lbs anymore.  Nevermind the fact that working out consistently IS the action I need to take to really reach my goal.  The 5lb outcome was actually a "false goal." I call it a false goal because even if you reach it, you can not sustain it without the consistent action.  Reaching a certain hair length is a false goal and so is having a certain amount of money in the bank.  In actually, those false goals should actually be considered milestones you reach as a sign that you are doing what you need to do.  Once that milestone is reached, you can move on to the next milestone. BUT THE REAL GOAL IS TO KEEP TAKING ACTIONS THAT MOVE YOU TOWARDS YOUR MILESTONES.  

This is what I will practice from now on.  If I'm, not constantly taking the right actions, then I'm not reaching my goals. The milestones of gaining 5lbs of muscle or having XXX amount in the bank let me know that I'm headed in the right direction. Once I meet the milestone, I won't stop. I identify a new milestone and adjust my actions accordingly.  I think this new way of goal achievement will be very effective for me. Best of all, I will focus on maintaining the process, not just the outcome.