Regardless of how you set your goals, whether by using the SMART method or some other way, you’ll have a sense of how you’re progressing in trying to achieve them.
If you’ve been following our articles so far this year you’ll know that I have used the SMART method to structure my own goals. I’ve also broken down my goal into milestones and described a clear idea of how & when I’m going to measure my progress. I won’t go through that again here to avoid too much repetition but if you want to know the full details then I encourage you to go back and take a look at our short articles published in January 2023.
To update you on that, I am now monitoring my progress carefully and I will be measuring my progress over the next week to see if I’m hitting my milestones. From there I can assess progress, look at what is going well and what isn’t and refine my approach to improve my chances of succeeding. I’ll provide an update on that in the next article.
In the meantime, maybe you’ve already crossed the finish line in a fun run, lost a few kilos or achieved some other goal. It feels good, right..? It’s feels great to hit our targets & achieve our goals but it’s not long before that moment of euphoria passes. So what’s next for you? Will you just go back to your old habits, will you simply try to maintain your current new state, or do you think about the next milestone or new goals?
It sounds like a silly question: How Do We Cope With Success? Actually, it’s a really good question. If you’ve poured your heart & soul into losing weight, getting fit or achieving something else, it can be really disheartening if you quickly go back to your old routines and all your hard work & effort comes undone. This is exactly why we need to ask how we’re going to cope with success.
Essentially we’re asking What happens next?
Here’s a model which I hope you’ll find useful:
1. Enjoy & celebrate your achievements. You deserve it! Whatever rewards you had promised yourself for achieving your milestones & goals, take them & enjoy them.
2. Reflect on your experience & record what you have learned. If you choose to set yourself other goals in the future your learning could be very helpful in guiding your plans.
3. Consider taking a little time. Think back to the Lewin model of change discussed in an earlier post: Unfreeze then Change then Refreeze. The ‘Refreeze’ bit is where you work to sustain & maintain the new state you are in. That doesn’t mean you have to keep doing what you were doing – If you were trying to lose weight then continuing with your current lifestyle may cause you to continue losing weight which may not be desirable. You are just looking to maintain your new condition while you assess, refine and decide what to do next.
4. Take a look back at your hopes & dreams that you identified right back at the start of the process. Did you achieve everything you hoped for? If not, could these form the basis of your next goal?
5. What next, then? Are you happy with your new norm? If so, great! If not, what would you like to do next? If you would like to work towards another goal just refer back to the beginning of the process you’ve followed & start over with a new ambition. But before you start, reflect on your experience & refine your approach. Look at what worked well, what didn’t and think about why. Use your experience & insight to develop an even better plan for change!
Regardless of your achievement, your successes & set backs, planning for that moment when you achieve your goals is important firstly to make sure you don’t regress, unless of course that is your aim, but also to make sure that you get the most out of your experience.
If you would like to talk about making changes in your life or any mental health issue please contact us at BroadMinds Therapy for a free chat.
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Web: http://www.broadmindstherapy.org
Email: help@broadmindstherapy.org
Phone: (+353) 0899420568
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Thanks for taking the time to read.
Take care & stay safe.
Integrative Counselling And Psychotherapy 