Lately I've been HUGE on setting goals. Not the long term goals or the ones that you write down in your journal and then forget about; but the very short term- this is what i'm gonna do RIGHT NOW- kinda goals!
It has worked SO well in my classroom this year. Especially with some of my harder students. We decide what it is that they are going to accomplish and then I let them choose a reward and a punishment. What is going to happen if you meet your goal? What if you don't? They always set much larger punishments than I ever would. For example, yesterday I had a student with a goal to finish a math assignment by 10:20 am. If he got done he would earn one gold coin, but if he didn't finish by 10:20, then he would owe me 11 gold coins...his entire collection from the month of October! He set the standards-not me:)
Anyway, tonight I decided to set a goal for MYSELF. I have been a MAJOR slacker lately. I've only gone running ONCE in the past 3 weeks! That is bad! Especially because running is on my list of 5 things.( I have a list of 5 things that I have learned will help me to stay happy despite ANYTHING that is causing me to feel depressed or frustrated.) I know I haven't been as happy as I usually am these past couple weeks and while there are a lot of factors playing into that one...my lack of exercise is DEFINITELY part of it!
So tonight this was my goal:
GOAL: Run 5 temple hill loops.
REWARD: Get to eat dinner and 3 wild berry skittles:)
PUNISHMENT: No dinner and No skittles:(
So I put on my running shoes, turned on the ipod and headed for the temple.
Long story short...it didn't take long for me to realize that my goal was maybe a little too hard. I had forgotten the difficulty of those hills:) I had obviously overestimated my current abilities and forgotten about all the chocolate I consumed last week in my moments of stress.
I was tempted to give up and eat dinner anyway.
But I didn't!
I had put my mind to something and I was going to do it!
Tonight I was reminded of just how POWERFUL our minds can be! Maybe I ran slower than perhaps I would have liked to. It might have taken me an ENTIRE ipod playlist to accomplish my goal! Maybe I didn't get home until after dark....
BUT...
I just want YOU to know...That YOU can do ANYTHING you set your mind to...and I've got proof!
Dinner was delightful and the Skittles more fruity than EVER!
P.S. Did you know that when you run around the temple ANGELS cheer you on? It's true:)
1 comment:
Good work Nat!!! Perhaps the puishment of no dinner is a bit to harsh though....just like the little boy who would have to give up all of his gold coins. But perhaps I am wrong, maybe it was needed to help motivate. All I know is running 5 temple hills would kill me! I love you Nat, you are an amazing woman.
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