Even if you haven’t set any new year’s goals or habits to improve upon, you’ve likely seen commercials, gym ads, and posts on social about losing weight, getting fit, reading more, or scrolling less. Every end of December/beginning of January is full of “how to achieve XYZ faster and with the best results.”
This post isn’t like that.
Over the last few years, I’ve realized that while I love setting goals, I struggle to get started. I struggle to stick with them. And I almost never achieve them. Why? Because like everyone else, I want fast results. But what if this year, we worked on goals slowly and over time? We chipped away at 1 thing little by little. Reaching goals slowly does not have to have a negative tone to it. If you’re like me and want to hit goals but also want to relax a little, read on! Here are 3 positives to reaching your goals slowly:
- You better appreciate the process – Many times when we set big, audacious goals, we are focused on this 1, singular result. We tend to ignore all the little nuances and shifts we had to make to get to where we are. Take for example a goal of going to the gym 3 days a week. The mini goals leading up to that are: setting your clothes out, going to bed early, turning off your phone at night, finding a program to follow at the gym, and so on! We appreciate every step of the process when we grow slow.
- It encourages you in other areas – When you go at a goal slowly, you’re able to take on more in areas you’d otherwise let fall by the wayside. You’re able to truly take time to rest. You celebrate every mini milestone. You learn to trust yourself in other areas.
- You learn reflection in your progress – Reflection is truly how we look at something we’ve done, see what worked and what didn’t and then make the appropriate changes. When a goal happens over time, you can better tell what works and what doesn’t. You have less exhausted eyes to view your progress. You learn to stay committed to yourself and have takeaways from every step of the journey.
Growing slow may not be appealing to those wanting fast and furious results or changes, but for me, it’s bring peace with accomplishment. It feels doable for this season of my life. Maybe I’ll hustle after crazy goals again. Or maybe I’ll just keep growing slow.
What about you….how are you taking small steps towards your goals this month?
