The Gap
How big is the gap from where you are now to where you want to be? What life goals are you setting? Also when you set a goal do you work through the SMART acronym?
- Specific
- Measureable
- Attainable (Or Attractive)
- Realistic
- Timely
I find this task very challenging for clients to honestly self reflect on exactly how big their gap is. The gap to them might not seem big at all. If you say the goal quickly and easily, how hard must it be to achieve! So when you break the goal down to understand what you need to change to actually achieve it, the gap can be quite big.
Take my journey. I want to get up at 6am every day and go for a 30min brisk walk, jog or bike ride. Easy to say and I honestly believe it can be achieved! I'm a pretty healthy person who goes to the gym consistently and is generally quite active. I get up at that time occasionally, not all the time but have been known too. So how big can the gap possibly be? Well if you start looking into the gap and obstacles there are so many things to take into account:
- Health issues may pop up
- Commitments
- The hours you currently start work
- Are you just at your place during the week or at a partners place
- Things outside your circle of influence
There are always obstacles to do with the gap that you need to take into account. So after troubleshooting my gap I've decided that getting up 3 times a week is more of an achievable goal! Plus once I have consistently achieved that I could always look at growing it.
These are some great questions you need to ask yourself:
- Am I currently doing this new habit at all?
- How often do I want to do my new habit?
- Is the new habit just about me or is there other people involved?
- Is there space for my new habit in my current life schedule or do I need to make space?
- Do you need external help or support to achieve your new habit?
You may think these questions seem highly specific but that's the point! You need to be specific and think of all the obstacles when goal setting. Being honest with yourself by the way of self reflection is the only way you are going to achieve your goals and be kind to yourself along the when closing the gap.
