Have you ever accomplished a goal and all you felt was an overwhelming sense of disappointment? I have and it was a rather eye-opening moment for me. It was a major accomplishment in my medical career, and I was left with the most appalling sense of emptiness. I propose one or two things can be the reasons why you are less than excited or fulfilled with the accomplishment of your goal.

THE FIRST IS AN UNREALISTIC EXPECTATION

Many people expect the accomplishment of a goal to change who they are. When that does not happen, they are disappointed and their feelings of unfulfillment and disappointment persist. First and foremost, if you are not happy with who you are right now, flaws and all, you will still not be happy with you when you accomplish that goal. It is an unrealistic expectation to expect the accomplishment of your goal to make you feel better about yourself. We must come to the realization that self-love and acceptance are unconditional. If you are believing or thinking that the accomplishment of your goal or milestone will make you feel valuable and worthy enough, you will be forever unfulfilled and disappointed. You will feel “blah” no matter what you accomplish. Who you are will never change; however, what you accomplish in life will change and the degree of change depends solely on you. Recognize and accept that your accomplishments do not, nor cannot, add to or take away from your value and worth. Therefore, stop expecting your accomplishments to give you value and worth and you will no longer be or feel blah and disappointed.

THE SECOND IS LACK OF A CLEARLY DEFINED OUTCOME

Let’s say your goal is to reduce your weight. To accomplish that goal, have a clearly defined outcome of what that will feel, look, smell, or sound like? Get your senses involved in the process if you want to successfully accomplish your goal and sustain it. Therefore, when you plan a goal, take the time to also clearly define what the outcome will be when you accomplish that goal. This way you are in control and there is nothing left in the wind. You get what you want when you clearly define it and incorporate at least three of your major senses. One of the main reasons why many struggle to keep the weight off is that the weight reduction was not the outcome they wanted. This is very subtle; however, once you grasp this, you will shift your perspective and completely revamp your approach. Therefore, the question you must answer is what does reducing my weight give me? Said another way, what do I gain when I shed the excess weight? Then “act as if.”

DON’T BE SO STRICT YOU LOSE YOUR FLEXIBILITY

I never would give any of my clients a diet. Why? I firmly believe that dieting can make the process of weight reduction much more stressful. I will advise and make suggestions about foods to incorporate into your meals; however, it is ultimately up to each person to recognize how their body responds to food. Furthermore, when you address the root cause of your weight issue, everything else falls into place. Always remember to assess your state of hydration, rest, and movement. While you do not move to reduce your weight, you move for two very important reasons:

1. You keep your cardiovascular system fit.
2. You keep your metabolism up, which helps you to maintain your now slimmer body.

Finally, never forget that you must always check in and have clarity about your state: physiological or psychological.