You set a goal.  You envision what it will be like to achieve.  You focus hard on the outcome.  You come up short.

I was caught up in this loop for years and years when it came to losing weight and eating healthier.  There was nothing I wanted more than to get a handle on my eating habits.  My eating habits were screwing up my life.  I kept falling short despite my lofty intentions.  Why?

I was too focused on the outcome and not enough on the process of how I was going to get there.  The outcome was clear clear as day: Stop bingeing.  Eat like a normal person.  Overcome cravings.  Let my body reach its ideal weight .  But the process and systems were muddy.  I was confused.  I would try one thing for a few days or a few weeks and succumb to cravings, then try another thing for a few days or weeks and succumb to cravings.  I felt overwhelmed.  I felt bewildered.  I felt like a failure.  I was too emotionally involved to step back and troubleshoot.  I just kept jumping from thing to thing with a few long "screw it" breaks in between.   When I did try something new, I was in a panic about the outcome.  I learned over and over that it wasn't enough just to want my eating habits and bingeing habits to change.

Finally, I got serious about figuring out how I could systematize my eating in a way that was doable for the long term.   I took my eyes off the goal and turned instead to building the habits.  When I found out that I could actually follow my plan because it was doable, I gained traction.  Implemented over and over, it eventually became second nature.  I shifted my focus away from the outcome and instead poured my energy into following the plan and dealing with all the thoughts and feelings that came up in doing so.

When I focused on the process, the outcome took care of itself.

Until next time,