Banana Bread, Pineapple Beer & a Virtual Tea Party

This morning my first goal was to wake up early and go on the “dog walk” along the coast road, but my computer said no! This despite the sun shining, not a breathe of wind and going to bed early!

I decided to ease into my day, since it is officially back to work tomorrow. Monday routine of “some cleaning” done and now to sit in the garden and contemplate “what next”. That is probably the question which we all have on our minds, especially with what is going on around us and the “guilt trip” which we are taken on on a daily basis.

According to the Oxford Dictionary:

goal

noun

plural noun: goals

1. (in soccer, rugby, hockey, and some other games) a pair of posts linked by a crossbar and typically with a net between, forming a space into or over which the ball has to be sent in order to score.

2. the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.

In the background I can hear what sounds like an angle grinder. Clearly the neighbor is on a mission to achieve his goal of whatever it is he is doing. Noisy as it is, especially on such a clear day when sound seems to travel even further, I find it reassuring. Reassuring in knowing that people are trying to get on with the “little things” which they might have put off for so long.

Often we set goals for ourselves that are unrealistic. We think “big”, but we have no idea as how to get there. How do babies learn to walk? First they crawl, then slowly lift themselves up, they hold onto everything they can, find some balance in their legs and then take it one step at a time. This is how we should be approaching our goals, with baby steps.

There are so many analogies one could use! Learning how to swim, mastering a new skill, or even baking a cake. Yes, baking. Initially everyone was on the banana bread baking “bandwagon”. Now it is pineapple beer! Must admit as much as I love banana bread, I have not attempted it, yet. Might be the fact that I do not own a bread tin, but let me tell you, I am definitely NOT jumping on the pineapple beer bandwagon!

Let us use the banana bread baking analogy. First you get the idea of baking the bread. Then you find the recipe and buy the ingredients. Mix it all together, putting it in your warm oven and hopefully a successful end product!

Now that is exactly how we should be approaching our goals, with the end product in mind! With certain things we need to stick to the recipe, but there are times that we might have to find “substitutes”. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! If you are prepared and flexible for the unexpected then your chances of success is greater.

What if besides the banana bread you also decide to attempt the pineapple beer to go with it? Then you start thinking about “sharing” it with others, but you know that a “virtual tea party” is going to take some planning especially if your “guests” include family or friends living in different time zones? Now suddenly you have 3 goals to work on and because they are different in skill, you are forced to give them equal amount of “focus time”. You cannot give one of these preference, you need to give all of them, otherwise there will be not tea party to be had! Each of your goals are so different, making the success of achieving them “sweeter”.

Yes you probably could have gotten away with only one of the above, but then how “boring” would that be? As a neuroscience life coach, we encourage you to set 3 goals at a time. If you only set 1, after a while you become bored. If only 2, you chose your “favourite” one and neglect the other, but if you have 3 your brain encourages you to work on all 3. I know it sounds “crazy”, but I love proven science!

Do you have goals? Would you like to set goals? Do your goals need defining and refining? How sure are you of the goals that you have set? After some "prodding" you might find that they are completely different to the goals you thought you wanted? Will you consider a life coach to help you with your goals?

Have I given you enough food for thought?

Until next time.

Love, light and positive change

Ophelia