While I find myself full of enthusiasm for getting a good start on new goals and plans for 2011, I am feeling a little sluggish today. I am wondering what might be the reason for this reluctance to get into the “starting gate.” Here are some possibilities that I came up with:
* Sometimes it is more fun to imagine the goals and dream of their accomplishment than it is to actually get started on them.
* Sometimes we set a lofty goal, but then forget to write down the first step.
* It is not unusual for me to feel a little lethargic after a holiday. While the days off are a nice break, I find I am out of my routine and sometimes need a few days to a week of regularity to feel “normal” again.
* Sometimes we set too many goals and have trouble deciding which one to work on the first day back.
* Sometimes we start letting thoughts of failure and personal inadequacy creep into our minds, and begin feeling hopeless and helpless.
The Meaning of “Jump Start”
For me there are two meanings to the term “jump start.” One comes from starting a car with a dead battery. You find a friend with a car that has a good battery, get some “jumper cables” and hook his live battery up to your dead one; negative pole to negative pole and then positive to positive. Turn the key and voila your engine cranks over and starts. The second meaning of jump start comes from racing; as in one leaps out of the starting blocks to take the initial lead in the race.
Today, my battery has felt a little low, and I am not ready to start leaping forward. So, I need that metaphorical juiced battery jump to get me into that leaping position.
Ten Tips to Get a “Jump Start” on 2011
1. Accept that it will take time to accomplish the goals for 2011. All you can do today is begin working on one or two.
2. Acknowledge that taking a few holiday days off is usually a “double-edged-
3. Review the goals I wrote and thought about last week, that I left sitting on the shelf, before writing new ones.
4. Revise the goals to make them more or less challenging.
5. As you review and revise the goals and strategies, think about making them more specific. For example instead of listing eating 2000 calories a day, simplify the task by saying you will cut out all sugar in soft drinks, tea and coffee. You might easily save 500 calories a day.
6. Take stock of what you are already doing that is new. For example, you might have recently begun working out 4 days a week, up from 3 and now ready to go to five days.
7. Make the first goal just getting back into the routine of work and accomplishment.
8. After three to five days you will be ready to jump, nay LEAP INTO 2011.
9. Plan out a personal/self reward system that has a few key milestones even in the first week or two. Avoid rewarding a diet goal with a food reward and use an activity such as going to a concert or movie.
10. Expect to stop and start, go back and forth, until at some point if you have persevered you will prevail in your accomplishments.
REMEMBER, SOMETIMES STARTING IS THE HARDEST PART. JUST DO NOT GIVE UP IN THE FIRST WEEK.
For more Moment-to-Moment Optimism go to: http://www.drrussbuss.com
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