Setting Goals: Move Outside Your Comfort Zone

Setting goals is a part of life in so many ways.  From finding a first apartment to planning a future vacation to landing a new job and every thing in between, we first think of something we'd like to achieve--and then we plan for it.  With a specific goal in mind, we break down the steps into manageable and measurable pieces so that we can be realistic.  We assess as we go, so that we are sure we are on the right track.  We then expect SUCCESS because we have laid the groundwork.  We need to be flexible so that we can adjust if needed, but because our ultimate goal is so worthwhile and important, we find ways to keep going.

This is the very path of living a healthy lifestyle at a healthy weight, with regular physical activity built in, with hobbies and social time, adequate rest and relaxation and smart stress management.  So many of us agree that this is important and worthwhile, but we have to be willing to move outside our comfort zone to get there.  We have to make change happen.  We have to give up feeling like a failure.  We have to commit to our best expectations as well as the unknown even if it is frightening.  
It takes courage to step outside of what you know.  It takes self awareness to say that you aren't fulfilled where you are in your life, even if you are the reason for it, and make a move.  It takes patience to lay the foundation for your success because you are making a change and taking a risk.  It takes determination and humility to keep going when things don't work out according to plan.  It takes positivity to keep going.  It starts with you.  It ends with you.  Hopefully there will be helpers along the way, but at the end of the day.  It is all about you.

So, dream big of a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life.  Expect it to go well.  Expect there to be friends and strangers to give an assist.  Ignore the naysayers who will be suspicious of your change (they like you the way you are).  Expect a few setbacks that might be guideposts to another dream. Expect success.  It will feel different.  It will take work.  It will involve disappointment at times, but it will also be worth it.  So very worth it.




\accordingly, then we can handle what's waiting outside our comfort zone.