Seeing our goals Mindfully

Many of us are trying to use the time at home to set new routines or achieve some long-held goals such as exercising or meditating or taking online classes. This can help us to exert some control over our lives while everything else feels so out of control right now.

Defining a routine can help

Giving ourselves a routine that includes modest, attainable goals each day, including some mindfulness activities, is probably an excellent idea in the current climate.  We all experience how uncertainty, change, and feelings of groundlessness can heighten stress and anxiety. Having something simple to do can be stabilizing, and can help us get to the end of each day with some sense of satisfaction and pride.

Goals indicate a direction

But setting targets for ourselves can be tricky.  On the one hand, they can motivate us and help us to achieve certain things in life, but on the other hand they can also lead us into cycles of self-judgement and self-recrimination when we ‘fail’ to meet our targets.  Mindfulness reminds us of the importance of being gentle and generous and compassionate with ourselves (non-striving), including in our judgments of our so-called failures. The journey is just as important as the goal and can teach us valuable lessons.

It’s important that we remember that trying to meet the goals is in itself work, and when we miss them, we just try again the next day – that’s not a failure, that’s just the exercise. Every little step in the right direction is a success! You “only” meditated 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes? Be proud of the 5 minutes! You “only” exercised once this week? Success!

Let’s try to be mindful of this trap of thinking: because we have all this time at home now, we should be able to practice for hours every day.  Instead, perhaps let’s remind ourselves that these are extraordinary times with extraordinary pressures on people – give yourself permission to be less demanding and more forgiving. 

Even in normal times, the goals we set for ourselves are often very ambitious; and sometimes even just getting up in the morning is a win.