We’re officially into the summer months, and we’re slowly getting back to whatever this new normal is. For this month’s mental health check, we wanted to focus on keeping up your effort, even when it can sometimes feel like you “can’t”

ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT GOAL

Sometimes it can be difficult to stay on track as weather gets nicer and especially now after the last 15 plus months of having to stay inside, for the most part

1. If you’re feeling uncomfortable or realizing that your goals were a reflection of what we’ve all been through during the pandemic, in a bad way, maybe it’s time to reflect and reevaluate what your goals are.
2. Ask yourself some questions about the goals themselves
   • Has your “why” changed?
   • Was/were these goals bound to what was available to you during the pandemic?
   • Are you in a different place mentally now than you were when you made the goal?
   • Did you already smash the goal and not realize it?
3. We’ve talked about goal setting before, and making your goals manageable, sustainable, and reachable, are the goals you’ve set all of those things, still?
   • Are your goals TOO attainable? 
   • Have you underestimated yourself? What I mean by this, is maybe you’re not challenging yourself anymore

KEEPING MILESTONES WITHIN REACH

Milestones are actions and achievements that are necessary to make progress towards your ultimate goals 

1. Break your big goals into smaller, manageable bites (milestones along the journey)
   • I’ve been doing this on a run to run basis lately because of the heat. Sometimes it’s as small as making it to the next fire hydrant just to keep going forward. Mentally, I know I can make it to that next one and that helps keep me moving
   • That may sound overly simple, but sometimes my goal is just to get through that day, especially with the temps being what they have been
2. Milestones are plot points on your path
   • Just like on any journey, there are places you have to pass on your way to the bigger, end goal. These are important to have because they’re the smaller wins (the snowflakes for your snowman)
3. Sometimes your milestones have to evolve because your goals evolved
4. Your milestones should be measurable in some way
   • Milestones are achievable benchmarks on the path to the larger goal
   • Milestones should be relevant to the goal itself
   • Milestones are typically timebound – “I have to achieve this milestone at this point to be on track”

UNDERSTAND THAT THE GOAL LINE CONSTANTLY CHANGES

Sometimes, and by some, I mean a lot of the time, your goals morph because of any number of reasons:

1. You shredded the fuck out of the original goal and/or are annihilating your milestones
2. You found your workout soulmate and that changes the course of your changing
3. You accept a challenge and have to realign your goals/training to this challenge

Understanding that there’s nothing wrong with constantly changing goals is a huge step on your journey. Mind you, they probably shouldn’t be changing so frequently that you’re not able to accomplish reaching those goals