Credit (great post about looking better on pictures depending on your body type)
Recently, we had a huge mirror fitted in the bathroom. It starts at knee level, while the tainted shower door reflects your whole silhouette. The shower door is often open so I rarely use it, while I look at myself in the mirror every day, at least when I brush my teeth. Yes, I am vain, and haven’t had a big mirror in years, so I quite enjoy it. And, it makes me look pretty darn good. More so than usual. At first I thought all my swimming/running efforts were paying off, until I saw my reflection on the shower door. Full sized, normal me. Why the difference? Perspective. Having half your legs cut by the mirror enables you to imagine interminably long legs, when in reality they are half the size of Julia Robert’s. Check out the post’s picture to see how it works.
I could stop looking at the magic mirror, or fill my brain with limiting thoughts like “don’t dream, this is not really you”, but instead I choose to look some more and tell my self that I look great.
Is it good to dream?
Of course. We push our barriers when we dream. Especially in our sleep, since our subconscious is free to wander without any boundaries. Then we wake up and we say “that’s not possible”. Well, if you had wings and were flying in outer space, probably not. But often, you wake up from a dream feeling really good. Maybe you were on the beach with your family, maybe your mother had come to visit, maybe you had finally opened that flower shop you’ve been talking about leaving your job for for years.
Dreams send us to another reality, where the small barriers and excuses we invent every day not to achieve our goals don’t exist anymore.
Better than dreaming, start acting
“A goal is a dream with deadlines” said someone smart. And while it is good to dream, after dreaming, you have to get to your action plan. You know goals have to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely).
“I want to start running” is not a SMART goal. “By Christmas, I want to be able to run a 5k, and for that I will train 3 times a week following the couch to 5k program for the next 9 weeks, and account for an extra week because life happens” is a great goal. You know where you want to go (run a 5k), how fast (by Christmas) and how you will get there (training 3 times a week).
I want to further my education” does not count as a SMART goal either. “I want to earn my MBA within the next two years” does count as a SMART goal, however, and is entirely attainable if you have the right plan in place. Look at online courses to see if you believe that they could work for you. Online universities are becoming a great way for people to reach their goals because they provide the flexibility that is often needed for you to eliminate excuses. In many cases, you can also choose a specialization while earning your degree, giving you the ability to create much more specific career goals.
“I want to save money”, “I want to eat less”, “I want a promotion at work” are not goals, they are just dreams. You need to sit down and work on HOW you are going to get there.
If you are really motivated, and spend one hour a day seriously working on something related to your goal, every single day (and because you are so motivated you shouldn’t feel it), you will succeed. It may take time, but you will.
Focus on your future reality
When it comes to achieving your goals and defining your new life, your worst enemy is often yourself. “I can’t do that”, “I am fat, I have always been”, “it is too hard for me”… are as many negative beliefs that prevent you from doing anything. The status quo is much safer, change is frightening.
By focusing on your future reality (the awesome you, able to run 5k), you have a visual image of what it could be like, you have a dream to aspire to. Failure will hurt less than if you fill your head with negative beliefs and never even start working towards your goals.
Life is how you see it. Even if you are still 5lb overweight, if you imagine yourself at your ideal weight and start acting as such, you will irradiate confidence, attract people to talk to you and get to know you. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t reached your goal just yet, picturing it makes you a little closer to it.
I use visualization all the time to imagine myself achieving something. Sometimes I have to go through that process a lot before I can finally sit down and actually make a plan on how to achieve that goal. Great post!
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted..What I Know About Myself and Money
It takes work to manage to see your goal, and some people are way more visual than others. But it really helps.
Hi Pauline,
I recently was going through the line at a burrito place we frequent. We don’t get any meat or cheese on our burritos, and the girl who is making it perks up with, “I’m going to be vegetarian next year.” After we sat down, CJ said, “Did she just say NEXT year? Why not now?” I don’t think you’d consider her goal a smart goal. If she wants it bad enough, I think she would find a way to make it happen sooner. Not all goals can happen overnight though. It’s taken us years and many goals to get to where we are, and there’s still LOTS of room for growth. Hope you’re doing great!
Hi Tammy, lovely to see you here! Yeah that’s not a very smart goal.. I spent months thinking “I should really go back to running” but you need to get your sh¨t together to really do anything. Maybe she is gradually reducing, like having meat only twice a week, then once, then once a month.. until she becomes a vegetarian next year? That would be smart.
Very inspirational article =)
“When it comes to achieving your goals and defining your new life, your worst enemy is often yourself.” I couldn’t agree more… WE are our worst enemy…