“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” -Zig Ziglar
There are very few feelings like the feeling you get after accomplishing a goal. Whether it’s losing weight, running a marathon, raising enough money to build a building, getting out of debt, you name it . . . it feels incredible!
But what do you do after you’ve accomplished a goal? A lot of people get depressed after reaching their goals. They’ve been chasing something for so long and now that they have attained it, they have nothing to shoot for. That is when depression can sink in.
I thought I’d share what I do after I accomplish a goal. It helps me stay away from the depression that can come after accomplishing a large goal.
I Celebrate – I don’t think we do a very good job at celebrating our successes. In our culture, we’re too quick to jump to the next thing. It is important to celebrate every time you hit a goal! Treat yourself! For me, after hitting my marathon goal, I celebrated by going to dinner with friends, I am going to eat anything I want this week, and I am not going to workout this week! Whenever you reach a goal, make sure you take time to celebrate.
I Reflect – Zig Ziglar said, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Reflect on the journey of reaching your goal. What lessons did you learn? What habits did you develop? What did you do well? What could have you done better? Who did you become through the process? Remember that experience isn’t the best teacher, evaluated experience is.
I Re-Focus – Too many people, once they reach their goal, go back to the life they were living before they hit their goal. Your goal should be to take all the lessons you learned in the process of achieving your goal and make them a part of your life. Then, after you’ve celebrated and reflected, set new goals and focus on them! Don’t let yesterday’s success hold you back from tomorrow’s success!
You should always be in a constant cycle of setting goals, achieving goals, celebrating successes, reflecting on what you’ve learned, implementing the lessons learned, and re-focusing on new and better goals.
What do you do after you’ve accomplished a goal?
