OK, so you may want to read the previous posting, just to get up to speed for this one.

Question: When goals aren’t enough, because we’ve lost interest in even small steps, how do we renew energy so that our resolution continues to move forward?

Answer: We have to understand where renewable energy comes from and how to tap into it.

 

Every one of us grows tired–even in the midst of pursuing noble dreams. When we’ve lost the will to press forward, and yet we are convinced it’s not time to quit, we must get back to the “why” of the dream. Renewable energy is found not in the small goals but in the “why” of the initial dream. Remember, in the last post, we realized that the initial dream comes with a woosh of energy. The problem is that without small steps, that woosh quickly fades. True as that may be, the fact remains that the initial “why,” the initial reasons we made a resolution to change are still important–very important. And, when you’ve lost the sustainable energy of small goals, you have to REMIND yourself of the larger and more important reasons you engaged in the change in the first place.

When you’re depleted, a goal alone just won’t do. You need a bigger reason to keep going. That bigger reason is found back in the primal dream–the place where your need to change and your desire to change created an explosion of energy.

Get back to those larger reasons and you will find your energy renewing.

Why did you decide to start exercising? To be healthy? Yes. To live a longer and more abundant life? Yes. To enjoy 30 or 40 minutes of pain and sweat? I doubt it. So, when the short term goal (the pain and sweat) is hard to fathom, get back to the bigger reasons. “I get on this exercise machine because I want to see my kids graduate from college.” Or, “I hit the pavement to run because the vitality it produces in me makes me more alert and ready to change the world around.” 

When it’s hard to keep going, you have to reconnect to the bigger “why’s” and refuel your booster rocket (today’s goal) with something stronger (tommorrow’s victory).