“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else” – Benjamin Franklin
This particular show called “My 600-lb Life” caught my attention recently. The premise of the programme is to tell a story about people who suffer from obesity, about their past, about how and when they started becoming overweight, about their current life situation dealing with it, and about how eventually they go through a gastric bypass surgery to help catalyze weight loss and the follow up. As expected, people who are obese are essentially immobile, needing a caretaker to tend to their every need, have poor health, and lead an imbalanced lifestyle.
A woman weighing 690 lbs went through a bypass surgery and after six months only managed to lose less than 100 lbs from the possible 300 lbs. They showed that she refused all kinds of instructions and recommendations given to her such as diet, exercise, physical therapy, and a generally active lifestyle. She had all the excuses in the world for why she wouldn’t follow them, to a point where even the doctor finally resigned from her case.
A simple tip for goal setting that I’d like to share are the “3 D’s”. The first “D” of goal setting is “Desire” to achieve it, that is, asking yourself ‘how much do I want this?’. If you don’t get excited about the goal, then maybe it’s not something you really want to pursue in the first place. Pick something that makes your heart race just thinking about it, and you’ll be more likely to complete it.
The other 2 D’s are “Determination” and “Discipline,” that is how much you are willing to work for the goals despite the roadblocks. Anyone can set a goal easily. The overweight woman may appear resolute to lose weight in the beginning, but she wasn’t willing to work towards her goals and that is the reason for her failure. The ultimate test of goal setting or goal achieving is in the process, when we have to put in the time, energy, effort and sacrifice.
We don’t not do things because we can’t, but because we won’t. The question we need to ask ourselves about our goal is, ‘Will I work for my goals, or will I make excuses for why I won’t?’ Additionally, a smart thing to do is to identify the potential roadblocks before the journey even starts and the sacrifices we would need to make regularly or constantly in order to reach these goals. This way, we can brace ourselves and prepare for those challenges beforehand, rather than being caught off guard and underestimating these challenges.
I hope the “3 D’s” formula can help you understand the right mindset for effective goal setting and goal accomplishing. It’s got to be something meaningful that will move you. However, in order to reap the rewards, it’s guaranteed to be nothing short of hard work.
So my 2016 wish to you is for a prosperous year ahead filled with happiness, health and laughter.
This article has been published on Now! Jakarta magazine January 2016 issue.
Turning Life Experiences into Life Skills 