Tag goals

Supporting Your Aims – Becoming Lighter Series (5)

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Now you’ve decided on your aims, planned them and finding ways of pursuing them the next stage is all about how you can support yourself and the aims. You could reveal your aims to family, friends or even colleagues. This suits some, but not others and it depends on what the aim is. For me, it encourages motivation, but suggest divulging aims only to trusted peers, especially if it is a tough aim.

Reminding yourself about the benefits of the aim. List the benefits in a journal and read it when you are struggling. This may reinforce some positive thinking and encourage you to be proactive and continue with the process. Well, we can hope can’t we?

It is always wise to think about the good aspects of what you are doing. If you don’t feel like exercising then remember how you feel afterwards. Same with cleaning, decluttering or cooking a fancy meal. Pocket the emotion. Oooooh must take some of this advice as I’m struggling with going to the gym during the cold, dark weather.

To sum up…

Discuss your life aims with trusted peers

Remind yourself of the benefits of the aims

Write a to do list or journal

Pocket the good feeling you acquire after achieving new aims

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Analysis of your Life Aims? Becoming Lighter Series – (4)

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Having pursued specific aims, found yourself following a plan or at least have a plan, then decide what is next.  For me, I tend to get value out of aims by measuring them. If I’ve lost weight, I’ll write it down so can see progress. If you exercise, it is fun to see how much, by recording it. By measuring results, you see how far you have come, which encourages you on a positive route.

If it is all a struggle, which it often is, see if you can decide on some sub goals or aims which helps with the fear and hopelessness. Everything is a struggle particularly as people or occasions often ruin good intentions and plans (family, friends, children, commitments). These can help keep stuff in control, measurable and time based.

To sum up…

– Measure your aims or goals

– Write down your progress

– Plan some sub goals if life is interfering

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Planning Your Aims… Becoming Lighter Series – (2)

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So continuing with the Becoming Lighter series, if you want to read my thoughts on this subject don’t forget to follow and thank you for reading my blog. Check out previous posts too!

We have brainstormed aims and eliminated some aims and decided what goals or aims we intend to implement. Focus on one aim at a time and break it down into smaller elements.  This enables what psychologists call “implementation intentions”. Also, it is a good idea to find value in each task.

For example, I’ve decided to write my blog after having the late afternoon cuppa. I’ve attached the task to having a cup of tea and a possible snack during the late or early part of the evening. Mark Manson mentions habits in his paper (as below) and writes about how psychologists indicate that willpower can be trained like a muscle as it is about integrating good habits into daily life. Personally, I find it helps to combine it with something you want to do at a specific time of the day. This can help habit formation. Doesn’t always work because life gets in the way, but most days a cuppa (habit) and blog writing or researching (new habit) is beginning to happen. Same with visiting the gym. Which for me, is best done before work, if I can face getting out of bed, or straight after work, before I return home, eat and chill out.

To sum up…

– Focus on one aim

– Break it down into sub aims

– Form a new aim with your usual routine (new habit/old habit)

– Be positive

– Source: Mark Manson’s paper ‘The Guide to Habits’ (download if put ‘habits’ in search on this site)

Thanks for reading.

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Setting New Life Aims – Becoming Lighter (1)

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Discussing your happy life is so ubiquitous it becomes a bit pointless. What we really need to do, is analyse what we want to aim for, how, when and where in order to arrive at “the happy life”.

For this reason, I am starting this blog series with meeting aims. Most people may call them resolutions or goals and set them at the beginning of the year. By February, the majority have rescinded their resolutions and probably even forgotten them. However, if you call them aims, they become an ongoing process and enjoyed and improved upon.

Mark Manson wrote an article called The Most Important Question of Your Life. He asks how much pain do you want in your life? This pertains to the idea that you need to encounter negativity and experience a struggle. What you get out of life is not determined by good feelings and desire, but derived from bad feelings you are able to sustain. Therefore, if you are good at negative experiences then you are good at dealing with life. Are you good at dealing with negativity? No, like most of us, probably not.

We all are good imagining ourselves as skinny peeps, living in gloriously immaculate homes and eating copious amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, but it isn’t that simple. Not in my world. Clearly how you define negativity, defines us.

If you want “the happy life” you have to determine what you really want. So listing goals can be helpful, but it is then better, in my humble opinion, to pick two and decide the route you are going to take. Therefore eliminate the goals and pursue two or three aims.

After you’ve narrowed down the ideas, start to break them down into a format that you are able to cope with. For example, last year I decided to start a blog. An arduous task because I was busy with lots of family stuff, etc. I broke it down and picked a blog site, chose a name, then started writing in the hope that somebody might read it! Still hoping, but there has been some good feedback and I enjoy it so what the hell! This year, am trying to write more intentionally and endeavour to make content my main aim.

To sum up…

– Brainstorm this year’s aims (family, job, travel, education, social life, hobbies, home)

– Pick the top two aims and focus

– Ask yourself if you are committed to the aim

– Break them down so they are not so daunting

Good luck and in a few day will post my pearls of wisdom about planning aims. Look forward to seeing you then.

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New… Becoming Lighter Series!

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So I’ve decided to produce a new series for my blog! It is called Becoming Lighter and will include ideas about new life aims, decluttering, diet, fitness, social media and experiences that are relevant.

The first series will cover life aims. I’ve decided to call them aims rather than goals because, in my view, it’s an ongoing process. Talking of the process, many ideas will be discussed. These will include how committed are you to new life aims? Brainstorming and eliminating new ideas and aims, questioning the environment of your proposed tasks associated with your aims and how to record and measure progress. After that, I will post how we look at the emotions and benefits of the new life aims.

The blog posts will be concise and run over several weeks. These are my compilation of ideas that have been obtained from various sources, including books, papers, university study and university of life ho hum (experience and interest). The posts are light hearted, but hopefully help and be flipping useful. La de daaa….. very exciting!

Well, January was a trial month and this is February now, so let’s set some new ideas, goals, resolutions or aims… Glass of wine anyone?

Thank you for reading and if you aren’t following, please do…

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