Time to Beat: A Fun Way to Reframe Goals or Deadlines
Do you struggle with meeting goals that you (or others) have set? Or meeting deadlines?
Everyone struggles with this at some time or another. Experts often say that we may not be able to change what happened, but we CAN change how we think about what happened. With this in mind, I have found a fun way to improve your success rate.
Instead of dreading your goal, or your slogging through the process of getting to your goal, play a little mind game. I found this trick during a class, when one student asked the class:
“Is it just me, or do you consider the GPS arrival time your ‘time to beat’?”
We chuckled, many nodded their heads, and the statement stuck with me. It got me thinking, why limit this technique to GPS-guided road trips? Why not expand this idea to other areas of our lives?
Since then, I have played with this idea, and see its merits. Do you have a deliverable due Friday at 5:00pm? Consider that your time to beat and deliver it Friday noon or Thursday EOD. Do you have a goal of losing 5 pounds by the end of the month? Lose 6 pounds by that time, or lose 5 pounds a week early.
Try this out and see if it helps you re-frame some of your to-dos.
Good luck!
It takes people like you and me, who care about deadlines and already challenge themselves. Maybe if they know their WHY it would motivate the unmotivated.