Why we set the same resolutions...Part Two

Last week I wrote on WHY we set the same resolutions every year. You can read that post here. I also handed out some good ol’ fashioned homework. To refresh your mind, here was the assignment: Get a piece of blank paper. Write at the top: This year I will…then fill it in. Then for the next WEEK keep a running list of ANYTHING you do that is in alignment with this goal. Write down anything that is helping you to accomplish your goal. So, how did it go?!
Now here’s part two of that assignment: Grab your paper and circle everything you did that FELT great. I don’t mean it felt good after because it was over (i.e. counted your calories, exhausted yourself in a workout, etc.) but it really gave back to you AND was part of your New Year’s resolution. It’s easy to pick the positive ones out, right?
Here is a BIG secret that can help you tremendously when reaching for your goals – chase the feeling, not the goal itself.
We set goals because they feel good to think about. They feel good to dream about. They stand for something and this something is usually you at your best. Am I right? Goals mean we are actively reaching for the best versions of ourselves. Don’t get so fixated on the actual goal because it needs room to breath and evolve. If it changes and what it changes into fits you better let it be ok!
Chase the feeling.
Does this goal make you feel giddy or anxious? Clear or overwhelmed? Inspired or lost?
We can’t know exactly how we will accomplish our goals. We just need to know WHY we want to achieve them. Then the HOW will present itself. Chase the feeling of WHY. Success is not a linear line. It is messy. It is unpredictable. And it zigzags all the way to achievement.
This can make us feel like we’re not getting anywhere. But we are still growing. Learning. And we are becoming MORE than before we had the goal. So chase the feeling.
You will get where you were meant to go all along. I promise. Keep chasing the feeling.