What should you do if you have a setback in your goals?

The one thing that I stress to my clients more than anything is not to dwell too much on the negative. As soon as I get them to understand that they are not on a "diet" they tend to relax more and they are able to reach their goals more easily.

Why is this one word so important? As soon as you hear the word diet, you assume food restrictions. If I told you that you could never have your favorite food for a limited amount of time then it would increase your craving for that food. Then, if you ended up eating that food you would think of it as a "cheat" and that would lead to feelings of depression.

Instead of using words like diet and cheat I use words such as lifestyle and life. I explain to them that part of life is having those foods which we enjoy, even if they are not nutritionally sound, once in a while. The important thing is not to dwell on that choice but instead just get back to more healthy eating as quickly as possible.

With regards to goals, I find that having them as "moving targets" makes it easier to deal with when and if we are having setbacks in trying to achieve a major goal. Some of my clients are trying to lose 50 pounds or more but they lose sight of the fact that they already have lost some weight. If all they focus on is the remaining weight they have to lose then they will not give themselves the proper credit for the weight they have already lost.

Sometimes it's hard to stop and acknowledge the small goals because we all want instant gratification. Unfortunately life doesn't work that way.

My own setbacks with regards to trying to reach my goal of running a certain time for my last marathon taught me an important lesson. After moping around for a few days I knew that the hard work that I had just done was a goal in itself. Although, it didn't translate into my ultimate goal, each training run I had made me stronger and gave me the confidence to know what I am capable of.

I have used that training as a "bookmark" which I will return to when I'm ready to train for another Marathon. In the meantime I will focus on other goals such as running for endurance (50 Mile race). That doesn't mean that I'm giving up or settling for less because each goal that I have is significant in it's own right to the one person that it matters to the most.....ME! The one thing that we tend to do is let others define the significance of our goals. We are constantly comparing our achievements to others when we should realize that there are individual variances in all of us which impacts our ability to reach goals.

Take pride in your own accomplishments and at the same time be happy for those around you who are achieving their own goals. You'll be amazed at the good Karma that will come your way as a result.