90-Day Goal: Day 6: Keep At It

It’s not a straight line from where you are today to the finish line of your 90 Day Goal. 

We all experience ups and downs, great progress and disappointing setbacks. We would all love to be able to make a plan, work the plan, and not experience any disruptions.  

One of my favorite tidbits of wisdom is from President Eisenhower.  Describing what he learned as a 5-Star General in World War II, he is said to have remarked, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

You have a plan for a 90-Day Goal. The battle against fatigue, distraction, and loss of focus has begun. It doesn’t take long before we can feel discouraged. Planning your days, planning your weeks, and deciding in advance how you will handle missing a mark will make all the difference for you. 

Don’t give up! Developing new habits and ways of approaching your day takes time. We will dive deeper into habit forming as we go along, especially appreciating the work of James Clear and his book, Atomic Habits. In it he writes,

“Interestingly, the researchers also found that missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not materially affect the habit formation process. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you mess up every now and then. Building better habits is not an all-or-nothing process.”

Because this is the first week and it feels new, you may be feeling an outsized sense of failure or disappointment. Instead of giving up or being too hard on yourself, consider one of these two ways to recover strong so you can keep at it.

1. Make up the missed action. Is your 90-Day Goal related to exercise or writing? Double-up the effort on another day. Squeeze in a second workout or write double the amount of words you committed to writing for 90 days. Catch up is a great strategy and will help you not only reach your goal but also to feel satisfied you are still on track. 
2. Let it go. Just as James Clear says above, this is not an all-or-nothing process. Allow yourself to miss a practice toward your 90-Day Goal without it derailing you completely. Have grace with yourself just as you have with others who are working toward something that matters to them.

90-Day Goals are not meant to be idols. We need to be careful not to turn something that is meant for our good and development into something that breaks us down. Goals can help form us into the person Jesus is calling us to be, so keep at it!

Please send me your questions, challenges, and suggestions as we continue in the 90-Day Goal Together. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing the journey with you. 

We’ve created the Younique 90-Day Planner to help keep you on track. It’s specifically designed to work with the Younique process. Check it out!