Is Life Getting In The Way of Your Goals?

I’ve said this before, but this time I really mean it.

I WILL be a consistent blogger!

You’ve heard from me before on this topic.  I said I was back in this blogging game.  I was going to be consistent in my writing.  I was going to send you so many emails that you would feel as if I was sitting on your shoulder every day talking directly to you.

And then I didn’t.  Because well – you guessed it – LIFE!

I don’t like the phrase ‘life got in the way’ because I believe that life IS the way.  Every day.  Every hour.  Every minute.  Life.  Life.  Life.

What gets in our way are other priorities.  Full up schedules.  Unforseen events.  Nope. Life is not reacting to things that happen to us.  Life is about choosing our priorities, making room in our schedules, and managing through unforseen events.

What else gets in our way?  Fear.   Excuses.  Anxiety and stress caused by the idea of taking action.  Again, life has those moments, but how we move through them is for us to dictate.

I sat down with myself the other day and had a bit of a meeting.  The questions on the table – do you want to spread your words as far as you can to help others?  The answer was – OF COURSE!  Next question – so Gayle, why haven’t you written something in the past month?  The answer – well come on Gayle, you know why!  We’ve been so busy. Life is getting in the way!  Oh yeah AND, I’m kinda nervous about putting myself out there.

Life hadn’t gotten in my way – I got in my way.  I let other priorities and fear feed me the excuses I needed to feel good about not following my dream.

Not.  Good.

So here I am.  Back in your inbox.  Recommitting to my intentions.  And about to follow some very basic pieces of practical advice to get myself back in the game.

What to do when life gets in the way?

Reconnect to your goal.

There is nothing better than the feeling you get when you think of your fantasy goal.  Whether that goal is material, like an amazing vacation, a new/upgraded home or a killer pair of shoes, or inspirational, like leaving your job to pursue your dream, getting a promotion or selling your first book, thinking about what you want makes us happy.  

Our brain loves daydreaming.  Our bodies feel all warm and fuzzy.  We feel good all over.

So when life gets in the way, reconnect to that warm fuzzy good all over feeling!  Spend a few minutes fantasizing about your ultimate goal.  Maybe hit up the Google search bar and look up some inspirational people/things/pictures/blogs.  

Recommit to your goal. 

Take a moment and recommit to the goal.  

I will get to go to Bali.

I will become a well known blogger.

I will get back into great health.

I like to write these phrases down on a sticky pad and put them where I can see them, read them, feel them, be them.  

Every.  Single.  Day.

Doesn’t matter that you haven’t done anything for weeks.  Start now.

Find Time.

After recommitting to my goal, I immediately take out my calendar.  Because if I don’t make the time to work on my goal, I will not take action.

If I do not have an hour to write built into my schedule, I promise you I will do one of three things.   One – I will sleep an extra hour.  Two – I will spend time on Social Media pretending that I’m doing research.  Three – I will do non-priority busy work that doesn’t contribute to my long term goal.

And I promise, sleeping an extra hour will always come first.

I need to say NO more often. To myself and to others. An over scheduled calendar is the result of saying YES too often to things that are not priority.

But saying NO is hard! I know. Take a minute to read through these few tips to saying NO – I find they ground me when I need to remind myself of the importance of saying NO.

Try just one thing to help you with the whole NO thing. After all, just one step in front of the other moves your forward.

So with you all as my witnesses, here I go!  

Reconnect to my goal – I get all tingly when I think of writing my blog and eventually having thousands of people reading and engaging with me!

Recommit to my goal –  I will get at least one blog out every week, with my goal being two. They may not be perfect, but they will be done. And, after a few weeks of consistency, I bet they’ll get better!

Find time – two to four hours a week (at least!  But I’ll start there) will be put aside in my calendar to write, post and engage.

I look forward to sharing more with you all.  And hope that you will hold me accountable to allow my life to get in the way – because this blogging thing?  It is my life.