To achieve or not to achieve

Seriously...I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by.  I have felt like that about every month this year but October went especially fast.  Maybe it was the sheer volume of tasks and activities that were before me.  Anyone else concur?  As a side note: only 60 days til Christmas...in case anyone's counting.   ;)

As the year nears its end, we are also given a chance to look back and reflect, reassess and make course changes for the coming year. This is a great time to look at the goals you set for yourself and see where you are at compared to where you would like to be. What steps still need to be taken in order to accomplish what you set out to do?

On that note I would like to take just a minute and look at goals.  There will be many that we accomplish, celebrate and move on from.  While others we may not accomplish, or so it may seem.  It is these goals I want focus on and challenge how you look at them.

When you look at a goal that seems to have been unaccomplished, I would invite you to look at the goal and see if quite possibly there may have been another underlying, unconscious goal that caused you to set the goal in the first place. For example: maybe you were looking for approval or acknowledgement from someone and in the face of not "reaching" your goal you actually accomplished that "unknown" goal, which now sets you free to move forward more powerfully to accomplish the goal you originally set.

Did you follow that?  Let me share a recent example.  A couple weeks ago I set out to run a 50 mile race in Hungry Horse, Montana.  My goals were to enjoy a little vacation the few days before the race, finish between 10-11 hours, eat well, feel good and have fun. Simple right?  I haven't run the distance in over a year and was a bit nervous as I hadn't trained as I would have liked, but I was ready.

The day Shaunie, Rena and I left was beautiful and all was well.  However, upon entering Montana, 2 of our phones stopped having service for the rest of the trip (5days).  The next day I found out my brother nearly lost his life in a motorcycle accident, which caused me to wonder if I should even finish my trip and run the race.  My monthly friend started the day before the race, always a good time in the woods w/no potties. At mile 8 I had a huge hip flexor pain which causes me to limp and almost drag my foot, making running a more difficult task. To top it all off...race day brought unexpected rain, hail, thunder and lighting, which caused me to be soaking wet for 6 1/2 hours of my 11 hours. Good thing I happened to throw in my raincoat!

As I looked back on not finishing closer to the 10 hour mark I found myself wanting to be frustrated and disappointed.  However, upon further examination, I realized I had an unconscious goal of remembering I can do hard things and overcome obstacles as they are placed in my path, and there were just a few of those.  Accomplishing the "unknown" goal allowed me to first -show up and finish the race and second to have fun in the face of those obstacles while doing it.  Yep...I'm a winner!!  And so are you!!

So as you finish out your year, revisit your goals and take a good look at what you may have accomplished without even realizing it and then go and conquer the rest of what lies unfinished. Look how you have grown and be Amazed and remember to Celebrate.  Celebrate the fact that you were willing to take a chance and go for it. Celebrate everything in between the starting line and finishing line. Celebrate how wonderful you really are and then...let someone else know.  :)

Until next time...
Go BE Great!

Jennifer J Saunders
BS, Certified Personal Trainer
ButtinGear
Reiki Energy Therapy
Intuitive Life Coach