Now I know I touched on this briefly in my goals article but I feel that this is important enough to give it its whole article. Maybe it’s because I am so damn guilty of this myself and I need the reminder but I am willing to bet that I am not alone!

When you set your goal - you do NOT need to go from 0 to 60 or 25 to 100 or anything crazy at all. The goal of the goal is baby steps. Remember, I talked about not going out for your first run and trying to do 3 miles having never run before? THIS is what I am talking about.

I am a super all-in kind of person. Give me a challenge and I’m in. So I’ve learned that I need to consider challenges very seriously before I accept them. If you are a super all in kind of person too please continue reading!!

Okay, now that you figured out you are this all in, no BS kind of person, let’s talk about how to be careful with it. See you are a special person. You will do what you say you were going to do and you will do it well. Here’s the thing… you can do it well without being crazy. I KNOW. You don’t believe me but I wouldn’t lie to you! This is why it is so important that when you set a goal that you set realistic action points. You need to really consider what you have for time, what you have done before and what is likely to be sacrificed when you go for this goal.

Once you have evaluated what will not get done during the time you will be chasing your goal, decide if that is okay. The things that will not get done, can they be pushed aside for that season? Or do you need to ask for help with that task? I cannot stress enough the importance of truly evaluating this. Here is what happened to me when I did not do this (and I have done it multiple times).

My house was filthy (ok, not like gross but just not up to our standards). My meal prep wasn’t getting done. My husband was frustrated with me. This was a big deal. Yes, it was so important for me to pursue this goal and yes my husband was super proud of me and yes, he was frustrated that I had so little time and energy to give him and our household. Now I could have done my goal differently. I didn’t need to go as crazy as I did, but it’s who I am and I entered into it without a second thought about how it would effect anything else in my life. But since I had committed to this, I made some different changes to help ease the burden such as hiring someone to clean the house and outsourcing my meal prep.

There are certain non-negotiables in life.  Exhibit A: My Husband. When committing to a goal there are certain people and things that cannot be sacrificed - typically a partner and kids fall into this category! What is it for you? What are you not willing to give up in order to pursue this goal? It is important that you know those things and incorporate that into your goal plan. If after you have given thoughtful consideration to your goal, you decide that it is not the right time to pursue that goal, it is OKAY! You might be able to do a smaller version of it, or part of it, but even if you can’t there is no shame. You always have to evaluate the things that are most important in life for the season you are in and when you honor this, you will feel so much more at peace.

There is one other option you can consider. If you start to work toward a goal and it is not bringing you joy, but instead it is stressful - you can quit. It is generally not a thing that us all-in people do which is why I laid out the above points, but I need to make sure that I give you permission to quit. The goal will be there later when you are feeling ready for it. There is nothing worse than adding in a new obligation and after you start to pursue it you also start to feel dread. Don’t do that to yourself!!!

However you decide to pursue your goal is perfect - just do it with thoughtful consideration. You’ve got this!!! <3