Are you ready?
Go get a piece of paper and pen. Or open up a separate blank page you can type in on your computer.
I'm going to ask you three questions.
Don't think about them too much, just go with your gut.
1. Name a goal you have— any goal for the future, be it near or far, small or large, heavy or light. Whatever means the most to you at the moment.
2. Imagine yourself right after having accomplished this goal, in the minutes or hours after you've DONE it. You're on the other side. It's the day after, it's behind you.
Write down how you would FEEL. A few words, one word, a phrase or two.
3. Write down the date you'd like to see this goal accomplished. Could be a day, weeks, months, years. Your ideal time to see it happen.
In the comments, I'll tell you how I answered these questions— and the little trick that will turn your perspective on its ear.
I took this quiz at my last WeightWatchers meeting, led by Jennifer Barley. She always likes to get into the deep end of the pool. After we wrote down our answers, she changed the topic to some general discussion about self-care in the new year.
At the end, she had us open up our scraps of paper and asked for some volunteers to share what they'd written.
One young cutie-pie sitting behind me said she wanted to get into a bikini by the end of the year, and I teased her by saying I wanted to see her march into the meeting with whatever she picked out. She high-fived me.
But there were other equally heartfelt goals, like: "I want to leave work on time for once," "get a decent night's sleep," or "run a 10K." Most of the people in the room are working mothers and grandmothers.
Is the suspense killing you? Don't peek at the comments until you answer the questions! I'd love to hear what you wrote, if you feel so bold. (Remember, you can comment "anonymously"!)
Photo: Richard Byrom
