4 powerful questions to ask yourself

It’s fair to say that even the best laid plans… sometimes just don’t happen. When you set out to do something but fall short, do you beat yourself up over self-perceived shortcomings? What does the voice in your head say? Maybe this: “What’s wrong with me?” or “Why don’t I do what I say I’ll do?” or “Here I go again!”

Those are common responses. They’re also pretty harsh. No one follows through 100 per cent of the time. It’s more helpful to look back and figure out what got in the way and what you can do differently in the future. The next time you don’t do exactly what you’d planned, ask yourself these questions:

Were you optimistic? Determined? What did you imagine it would feel like to put your plan into action? For example, you might have felt excited when you decided to pack a healthy lunch at night before work this week.

This is where you start to see what got in the way. So, if you meant to pack lunch at night, maybe at 9 p.m. you might have felt pressed for time or just too tired to deal.

Think about the ways you felt in those two moments. Maybe when you first made that lunch plan, it was a Saturday and you were full of energy, but by Sunday night you just wanted to veg out. (We’ve all been there.)

Tweak your intention to make it more doable going forward. Back to the lunch plan: You might decide to spend a relaxed Saturday afternoon packing lunches for the week instead of doing the late-night prep. You’ve just helped yourself succeed!