Setting goals is such a positive thing to do for yourself.  It means you care enough about yourself to want better and you believe in your future.  That’s all great, but what about when you set a goal for ALL the right reasons and you keep failing?  I can tell you from experience it doesn’t feel good at all.  In fact, it’s a real kick in the self esteem.

I set out on this journey two months ago, and I had no idea what it would take to face years of habits head on.  I was foolish to think that it was all about not wanting to cook.  There was so much more, and most of it had to do with the way I view “rewards”.  A reward is something that is supposed to make you feel good after accomplishing a goal.  When rewarding yourself becomes a habit and you take the achieving out of the equation what are you really left with?  Indulgent behavior, that’s what.

I had let myself become so overindulged that I wasn’t even evaluating whether these rewards of mine were making me feel good or not.  The problem with indulgent behavior is that your ability to deny yourself anything or delay gratification becomes out of whack.  If you normally go out to dinner 4 times a week then not going out at all is going to feel like a punishment instead of simply a smart decision.

Luckily, it gets easier with practice.  We kept at it, and now I don’t hear the siren song of happy hour every afternoon.  Some afternoons I do, but mostly I”m feeling more relaxed and happy to be at home where it’s warm and we can hang out with our Yorkie Ollie.  We resisted going out for the last 11 days of February and it feels great.  We did better in February than we did in January and I have no doubt that March will be even better.

Do your thrifty best!

Lisa