Collateral Damage

There are a tonne of reasons why you may not do what you said you would.

Perhaps you were a little ambitious to begin with? You may have been trying to operate outside of your capacity (mentally, physically and emotionally).

Maybe it was the lack of a clear plan?

Perhaps you've built up so much evidence that procrastination and inconsistency is the norm in your life, that this deep rooted (subconscious) belief around your current identity is driving your behaviours.

There are many more

But I bet one thing you haven't done, to date, is considered the collateral damage of your actions, behaviours and decisions.

Think about this...

Behavioural change becomes a lot easier once you start to experience gratification from the results you experience. This is because the sense of reward outweighs the effort required to achieve it.

Flip this on it's head...

You're not making the necessary changes up until this point, consistently, because the effort required to experience results outweighs the consequences of making the positive change.

But this is short term thinking.

Often, the consequences do not present themselves overnight. Regression and potential suffering takes time to accumulate and develop. Meaning, its likely that by the time you've recognised that you're digging yourself into a hole, you're already in too deep.

When it comes to setting goals, rebuilding your identity and establishing clarity and direction, I think its really important to consider the collateral damage of your actions, behaviours and decisions.

Ask:

What happens if you don't achieve what you said you would?

Who, other than yourself, will it impact if you don't achieve what you said you wanted?

How, exactly, will this affect those that matter most to you?

Its so easy to fall into the cycle of trying once again each time a new week comes around, but what's the long term impact of this? The answer is all around you. Societally normal behaviour reaps societally normal results

Get clear on possible consequences of your actions. Understand who they will impact. Let that fuel your first few weeks until, as I say, the rewards you experience outweighs the effort required