It’s natural to feel disappointed, sad, or even angry when your goal doesn’t go as planned.
So what do you do when you know your goal is no longer in reach?
You sidestep.
Remember that your path to your goal is never in a straight line.
Does this mean this particular goal is unattainable? No. It simply means that right now, you don’t have the tools or strength to reach this goal without risk.
.1. Reassess
Look at your goal and reassess. Ask yourself the following:
- Is it still possible to achieve this goal in the given time frame?
- Can I achieve this goal at another time?
- Do I need to downgrade my goal?
- Do I still want to achieve this goal?
.2. Grieve
Allow yourself to grieve. You might be experiencing a Shadow Loss.
When a goal is important to you you may feel absolutely lost that you now won’t be able to achieve it in the way that you had planned.
What’s important to remember is you don’t get stronger if you are always lifting the same weight.
.3. Reflect
Take the time to look back on this goal.
- What did you achieve?
- What failed?
- Where could you have pushed yourself?
- Where could you have held back?
- What worked?
- Was there anything that you liked or hated?
With these three tips, I hope you realise that while your goal is not achievable now, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be achievable later.
Take on everything you have learned, and use those tools, to make you stronger and more resilient, and when you do achieve your goal, all that time gone by was worth it.
Also, check out my blog post on Troubleshooting with Cake & Goals.