| Difficulty: | Easy |
| Frequency: | as needed |
| Duration: | 5–10 mins |
We often set health goals with the best intentions, but what happens when some of these goals don’t get accomplished?
Often, we give up on them.
Just like you might store leftover meals in your fridge or freezer, it’s equally important to have a system to store leftover goals for health changes you would eventually like to accomplish.
When completing this worksheet, keep in mind:
We are easily overwhelmed by goals.
Trying to accomplish too many goals at once is likely to make you feel overwhelmed, and may reduce the likelihood of achieving any of your goals. If there is one mantra for successful health change, it is: “One step at a time, building up over time.”
By storing some goals as leftovers, you can tackle the ‘quick wins’ first… building momentum for more substantive change later on.
If it’s hard to sort through your health goals, consider working with our Online Therapy program to tackle this together.
Some goals need time to bake.
Goals require the right timing and conditions to be actionable. By storing them, you’re essentially ‘keeping them on the books’ until the conditions are optimal for your success.
For example, maybe you aren’t entirely sure that intermittent fasting will help with insulin resistance. Freezing this goal would let you hang onto the idea, in case something in the future makes this the best course of action for you.
If a health goal is creating uncertainty, consider booking a visit with our Online Therapist for some health advice and strategies.
Saying ‘no’ actually enhances motivation.
Many people think that they always have to say ‘yes’ to maintain their motivation. But, being on the fence – known as ambivalence – is often a consequence of saying ‘yes’ without a good reason to do so. Many people know this feeling, which is often accompanied by feeling lost or listless.
By saying “not right now”, you’ve just decided to get off the fence. This new sense of direction will naturally reignite your personal motivation, developing a stronger sense of direction and agency. If you aren’t motivated to do something right now, consider whether you would be better off refrigerating that goal!
If you can’t get off the fence, consider working with our Online Therapist to build motivation for change.
Storing leftover goals isn’t about giving up on them, but it kind of is! As humans, we can only accomplish so many goals at one time. We tend to remain on the fence (ambivalent) to avoid giving up on goals when they feel poorly timed or we lack confidence we can achieve them. By storing our leftover goals, we can preserve them until you’re prepared to take action. This simple strategy is proven to increase your chances of sustaining a health change.
Need to talk about it?
Check out our Online Therapy program, open to Alberta residents.