Goal setting is one of those things that everyone seems to be doing each January (and August if you work in a school). It is a way to harness the new timeframe, get solidified in what you want to accomplish and make a plan for it to come to fruition. Unfortunately, most of these goals are often left in the dust after a few weeks, or even days, and our year doesn’t quite have the impact we had hoped for. Or worse, we reach our goals but then are left to fumble through the rest of the year or not know what to do when the next year arrives.

The reason for this is simple.  Most of us are taught to set hard deadlines with our goals, and to set firm, measurable goals that allow us to see when we achieve the, much like the goals we set for our patients and students. While this can be helpful, it also has a major flaw. What do you do once the goal has been reached? (more…)