Every January, for the past 5 years, I’ve set goals. Now, I’m not just talking about the generic ones I used to set:
Get in shape.
Read more books.
Watch less TV.
I’m talking about measurable goals, with a concrete deadline, that I evaluate regularly. Last year, I set a bold one. And I wasn’t sure I could achieve it, but I planned to give it a shot anyway.
By the end of 2016, I wanted to weigh 215 pounds.
Sounds simple enough, right? All I needed to do was eat better, workout regularly, and I could get there. But there’s more that goes into it than that. I’m a dad with 2 kids, a full-time job, a daily commute of 60-90 minutes round trip, and… I was just coming off foot surgery.
How was I going to accomplish this? When could I find the time?
After about 4 months passed, and May rolled around, I was finally at a place in my recovery where I could truly begin working out. But before I got started, I needed to understand the brutal facts of my current reality. That meant stepping on the dreaded scale. And what did it say? 249 pounds.
That’s the most I’ve ever weighed in my life.
Feeling humbled by this inanimate object, I also faced the reality that I had already lost 4 months of the year. How was I ever going to get down to 215 pounds? Not wanting to give up, I put a nutrition and exercise plan together and got to work. (More on this in a future post.)
After 8 months of 5 am wake ups, more sweat than my workout towels could handle, and eating my fair share of broccoli and cauliflower, I weighed (drumroll…) 217.6 pounds at my final weigh in for the year.
So close.
But I failed to achieve my goal.
As someone who likes to achieve, my initial instinct was to be disappointed.
Maybe if I had started a couple weeks earlier.
Maybe if I drank a few less Coca-Colas.
Maybe if I had brought it just a little bit more in my workouts.
But here’s the reality. In 2016, this dad with 2 kids, a full-time job, a daily commute of 60-90 minutes round trip, who just came off foot surgery lost 31.4 pounds. I’m leaner, stronger, and healthier than I’ve been in quite some time. And the great part is: I’m still going. (I’m shooting for 200 pounds by the end of this year.)
Sure, I didn’t hit my 215-pound goal. But had I not set that goal in the first place, I never would have pursued it. And you know what the means? I never would have lost 30+ pounds. In fact, I probably would’ve put on 5 or 10.
Too often in my life, I was afraid to set or pursue goals because I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to fall short. But my weight loss journey taught me that not all goals are black and white. Maybe I didn’t technically achieve this goal, but I was close. And sometimes “close” is something we need to celebrate.
I’m not sure where you are in the goal-setting arena. Perhaps you’ve never truly done it. Try to set just one this year. Perhaps you set goals and achieve them on a regular basis. If so, praise God, and be sure to celebrate that. Or perhaps, you set goals and fall short from time-to-time. That’s ok. Celebrate the fact that you got close. Because you’re no doubt miles ahead of where you started.
No matter what your goals may be for this year, keep striving, learn from your mistakes, and don’t give up. And be sure to count your victories along the way. The world needs your goals…even if you only get close.
Question: What is one goal you want to achieve this year? (Share below.)
