"Just continuing the journey will make us greater than we were before"

 

So I mentioned in a previous post that I am very anti new years resolution. Too many failed goals led to this. That does not mean that I don't set goals. I tend to set much more doable goals throughout the year along the way. I don't really like looking forward to an entire year or back on an entire year. I like to look at goals on a much smaller scale. Often my goals are not time limited. That said I did like Elder Uchtdor's talk in this months Ensign on setting goals. I especially liked how he recognized that infact we sometimes fall short of the finish line. And yet that does not mean we are a failure. He said-

"Many cultures throughout the world carry on a tradition of making resolutions for the new year. Of course, making resolutions is easy—keeping them is a different thing altogether.

One man who had made a long list of New Year’s resolutions felt pretty good about his progress. He thought to himself, “So far, I’ve stuck to my diet, I haven’t lost my temper, I’ve kept to my budget, and I haven’t once complained about the neighbor’s dog. But today is January 2 and the alarm just went off and it’s time I got out of bed. It’s going to take a miracle to keep my streak going.”

With every new day, a new dawn comes—not only for the earth but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start—a chance to begin again.

But What If We Fail?-Sometimes the thing that holds us back is fear. We might be afraid that we won’t succeed, that we will succeed, that we might be embarrassed, that success might change us, or that it might change the people we love....And so we wait. Or give up.

Another thing we need to remember when it comes to setting goals is this: We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now. It acknowledges from the beginning that at one time or another, we may fall short. Knowing this up front takes away much of the surprise and discouragement of failure.

When we approach our goals this way, failure doesn’t have to limit us. Remember, even if we fail to reach our ultimate, desired destination right away, we will have made progress along the road that will lead to it. And that matters—it means a lot.

Even though we might fall short of our finish line, just continuing the journey will make us greater than we were before." (The Best time to plant a tree , Elder Uchtdorf Ensign Jan 2013)

 



Goal setting can be a positive thing. When we set specific goals and realize them there is a chain reaction in our brain that makes us feel rewarded, happy, motivated and increases our self esteem. But sometimes it can be a negative thing. In fact setting unrealistic goals, or generalized goals can lead to depression.  A new study was released on July 8, 2013 that found that people with depression tend to make more generalized personal goals than people who are not depressed. The new study was conducted by Dr. Joanne Dickson, from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society. Dickson said, "

"We found that the goals that people with clinical depression listed lacked a specific focus, making it more difficult to achieve them and therefore creating a downward cycle of negative thoughts......Researchers found that while both depressed and nondepressed people generated the same number of goals, people with depression listed goals which were more general and abstract...Breaking a long-term goal down into doable doses that you nibble away at every day is the best way to stay motivated, reduce negativity, combat depression, and (most importantly) to achieve the goal. Goals that are not specific remain ambiguous and are almost impossible to visualize. A goal should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you are unable to visualize a goal and consciously realize when the goal is completed by saying “Yes! I did it!” your reward circuitry isn't activited. " http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201307/generalized-goals-linked-depression

So as you look to the year ahead and set goals for your healing make sure they are SMART goals. The SMART theory of goal setting says that goals should be.

S – Specific (or Significant).
M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
T – Time-bound (or Trackable).