What are your hopes for this brand spanking new 2017? The clean slate of a New Year gives us permission to go all crazy setting new goals and chasing big dreams right? We get all excited and start off with the best of intentions, but back off the plan when we don’t see the results quick enough. The truth is many of us won’t see our resolutions through again this year. We will have setbacks. We will get frustrated. We will quit.
Setbacks are not failure. They are only setbacks. Don’t let them derail you and keep you from your vision.
Something I’ve learned to do this year as I’ve taken action on my own goals (with plenty of setbacks) is to focus on the process and the vision, not the results.
One of the reasons we give up so quickly on goals we are SO excited about at first is because we reverse it and focus on the results over the process and the vision. Yes, results are important, but there may be more of a process involved in achieving them than you bargained for. But they’re your goals and they’re worth pursuing. Even when you’re struggling. Especially when you’re struggling!
Results take time. They don’t often (meaning, almost never!) happen as quickly as we would like, and when they don’t happen on our exact timetable we have a tendency to just give up and give in. Then we beat ourselves up, feeling like a failure, when we haven’t failed at all. We just haven’t given it enough time. We give up while we’re still in the process part. And the process part is the journey, and it’s the place where we learn and grow while we keep our vision before us.
If the choices you make, no matter how small, lead you toward your vision, rather than away from it, you WILL get the results eventually! Vision is reached by habits practiced every day. Process.
Instead of giving up too quickly, shift to a positive outlook (one that pushes you forward) by focusing on the good outcomes of your efforts, even when they aren’t the exact result you are looking for in that moment. For example, if you’re struggling with weight loss and are disappointed with the number on the scale despite your efforts to change your eating habits, notice the positives that have come from your efforts. Do you have more energy? Are you feeling more vibrant? Exercising more? All good things, despite the number on the scale. Keep up the process and follow your vision and you will get there.
Vision includes so many things: your hopes, dreams, and desires for your life. Do you believe in divine inspiration? I definitely do and I believe when you follow the visions God has laid on your heart, and trust him to support your mission, he will show up for you. Just not always in the ways you expect or on the timeline of your design. Keep the vision as your guide. Use it to push you forward regardless of how you are feeling on a particular day. Let it inspire you. Keep working toward it!
I wrote a related blog post on this topic earlier this year. If you’re interested you can READ IT HERE
And if you want to achieve big things with your health this year and need a plan and some encouragement, sign up for the Naturally Nourishing Winter Cleanse and we’ll get going on your goals January 12 with a delicious and life changing whole foods program!
Hope your new year is off to a great start!
Live nourished,
Heather
