I want to share something with you that was recently shared with me. As many of you know I am extremely goal oriented. I always have yearly goals and personal bench marks that I hold myself accountable for. It's always rough when I have hurdles that inevitably pop up. When I fall of the wagon, I usually fall hard. This is usually due to having too many goals at once. Moreover, the perfectionist in me doesn't know where to start. I've recently learned how to work on my goals bit by bit without feeling overwhelmed. If fact, quite the contrary.
My friend Sandy is a Yogi. She recently went on a retreat that was all about obtaining goals and realizing dreams. The counsel she was given was to do things one at a time. Let's take getting into shape for example. I fell off the wagon health wise in June when I went on vacation. I knew I wanted to get back in shape. I should run three times a week, improve my tone, take vitamins, and eat healthier. The old Ashley would try to do all of that in one week. Well guess what? That's too much change for one person, in one little week. I would have inevitably crashed, felt bad about myself for failing, then gone back to my lazy ways.
What Sandy counseled me to do was to add one healthy habit to my life in one calendar month. Big Goal: Get in shape. Small Goal: Run once per week, four times monthly. This way I would sustain a healthy habit in my life, feel good about accomplishing my goal, then move forward adding another layer. That's exactly what I did. Three months ago I accomplished my monthly goal of running/weight training once per week. Then last month I added two days exercise, then one day of no sweets. Then December I have added three days exercise, and two days no sweets. I cannot tell you how revolutionary this has been for me. I feel great about what I've accomplished and slowly added to my routine.
Professionally I've only been working on three goals; improving in film class, working on my website, and researching agencies that would be an appropriate fit for me. Yes I have numerous goals that I want to work on for my career. But how about I work on doing less better? Once I get my submissions sent out, and my website up then I'll work on the next phase. This has really helped me feel like I have more control in my life. It's given me permission to focus on smaller bites of the big picture. I feel like I have consistent follow through, which feels fantastic. I hope this inspires you while working on your goals, hurdles, and resolutions. Let me know if these ideas help you out in the future. Or if you have more ideas to share with me. XO, Ashley
