05/24/2011 03:05
On Motivation and Goals
I want to lose the weight for my 40th birthday.
I want to lose the weight for our family reunion next July 4th.
I want to lose the weight for my wedding.
I want to lose the weight by Christmas.
These are all event-driven goals. On the surface, they sound pretty good, but I see some problems there.
Say your goal is realistic, and you soldier through to get there for the event, what then?
Say your goal is unrealistic, and you find yourself with ten pounds left to go by the time the big event arrives, what then?
The problem I see with event-driven goals is that they are finite. Unless we change the focus on the event as it relates to the scale, we are in danger of the weight yoyoing back up again, starting the day after the big event. Or, in the case of the goals being too ambitious for the time limit, falling off the wagon before we even get close to goal.
When I first started on my fat loss campaign, it was event-driven. My daughter's wedding was approaching, and I needed help. Lots of it. All efforts on my own had failed, and I was desperate to lose more before the event, which was only three weeks away. I had more than 50 pounds to lose, and though it was not obvious to me at the moment, ten pounds would not make that much difference in the pictures I was avoiding. Still, I had that silly goal to lose ten pounds before the wedding.
When I walked into the Jenny Craig center that morning, I was only going to join for an introductory weight loss plan, which I thought might net me those ten pounds in three weeks. I insisted upon it when I first decided I would join.
Then the Center Director said, "But what about after the wedding? Aren't you tired of losing for an event, and then gaining it all back afterward?"
Snap!