Lose Your Quit Quest 09

Step 9:  Cut it in half, yes half

Let's be honest, when we/I set goals, we/I set them in the context of "If everything goes perfectly, these results should happen."  We all/I know that life is NOT perfect and something will go wrong, or at least not as planned.  Scheduling conflicts, illness, saboteurs, and other aggravations will try to impede progress.  As trainer Chris Powell says, "The more you want something, the more life will test you."  Cutting your goal in half actually helps you succeed.

Do what?!  Cutting it in half sounds like giving up!

Sure, if you give up, half of nothing is still nothing.  BUT succeeding at half is better than failing at the whole thing.  For example, for years I've set the goal to lose 100 pounds, which equals approximately 2 pounds a week, which even on my best weeks, is hard to do.  On my worst weeks, not gaining any weight is the goal (BTW-- meeting that goal is a mercy from the Almighty.)  If you've seen my profile picture, you know I haven't come close to losing the whole 100.  **sigh**  So, this year, I cut my goal in half to 50 pounds, which equals around one pound a week.  If I have a bad day/week/month, I still have a good chance of meeting my goal by the end of the year.  So, instead of 10 pounds, this month's goal is lose five.

Less pressure = more success.

What?!

Stick with me here.

I'm pretty sure I read this in John C. Maxwell's book Failing Forward or another one of his writings (If I'm wrong, I'll correct it later, but I know I read it somewhere not on the internet, so I'm sure it's accurate).  During the initial construction of the Golden Gate bridge, progress was slow and many workers were injured or killed by falls.  Finally some genius figured out that they needed a safety net and proceeded to add one.  Not only were there less deaths and injuries, there were actually less falls and the work proceeded much faster.  Why?   With no safety net, fear of falling was the only thing on the workers' minds. With safety measures in place, the constructors of the bridge could peacefully concentrate on completing the work.

There is safety in grace.

Give yourself some.