GOOOAAALLL!!!

Achieving a wellness goal can often be as exciting as scoring a soccer goal - maybe not quite as vocal as that famous Spanish Soccer commentator's signature screeeeeeeeeeem of joy - but still something that feels pretty good! And here's the thing - even if you don't achieve the goal you have set for yourself (NOOOOOO!!!!!!) your "failure" can still be viewed as something positive (YEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!). It all depends on how you choose to think about it. William James, a 19th Century philosopher who also wrote influential books on the then young science of psychology, wrote

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another

This thinking can also apply to the stress we feel when "failing" to make our goal. What I have learned during my 35 years in the field of wellness, and perhaps more particularly as an Intrinsic Coach® is that while there is a very effective methodology that everyone can use for the process of setting your goal (more later), what is important to you, and unique to you, is how you choose to react to either achieving or not achieving your goal. It is this - more than anything else - that will determine how you continue, or whether you continue to progress toward current and future goals. The "thought choice" here is between "Failure" or "Learning". Choosing "Learning" (I didn't make my goal - What did I learn from this?), is likely to be far more productive than choosing "Failure" (I didn't make my goal - Why the #$%#@ did I screw up?). The really cool thing about this 'new thinking' is that it is equally powerful whatever happens with your goal.

You did it? What did you learn? What's next?

You didn't do it? What did you learn? What's next?

So as you think about goals you have set - maybe even that ever more distant New Year's Resolution - what's coming up for you?

It's your choice.