I'm Disappointed
We all have been there; when working hard for a goal, we suddenly lose track or stumble.
I personally have wasted a lot of time being disappointed with myself for not reaching a specific goal on time or not doing "enough", as I claimed. And it gets more challenging as we look at the year's goals or our "Vision Board" only to figure out we need to catch up.
But the "Vision Board" doesn't show the unexpected pitfalls we had to overcome, the internal struggles we face daily, and the parts we had to give up for the sake of our family or loved ones for any reason.
And that's something I always tell my clients.
You might be disappointed with your performance during your last speech and didn't achieve all your objectives. But have you noticed how you handled your usual panic before your speaking engagements? Have you appreciated that you eventually took the opportunity even though you were overwhelmed by tens of other personal and professional worries? Have you considered that you actually did very well versus how generally you feel physically and psychologically lately?
Then what could we do?
1) Start monitoring how you feel daily and why, or at least assign an hour as a weekly mental, physical, and psychological checkpoint with yourself. This will help you take better actions to get yourself feeling better and also allow you to set realistic goals vs how much you can tolerate. (For example: If you're currently working on a project affecting your sleep schedule, you cannot expect to be with your 100% total energy when delivering your weekly department report. And that's something you need to accept)
2) Write down the unexpected obstacles you faced to:
a) Evaluate how you reacted.
b) Appreciate the results despite the hardships
c) Set a proactive plan in case you face similar problems in the future.
More than 10 years ago, I had been invited to be the conference master at a particular event, and even though I was fully equipped with what to do in the most challenging situations, the event was a complete mess! The organization needed to be more professional, affecting the event's total flow. Even though I have only achieved 50% of how I imagined the opportunity to be, I still appreciate till today how I managed the chaos that occurred on that day to satisfy our audience. And that's one of the main reasons I'm currently being selective in the events I host or speak at.
3) Evaluate the time frame you put for each goal every month. We're not living in a perfect world, and the possibility that something in your personal life could slow down your progress is exceptionally high.
A year ago I was conversing with my sister about my plans and how I'm disappointed with how I'm lately performing when she stopped me and said," Yasmine, you just had a baby four weeks ago!"
I have been overwhelmed with what I want to achieve, and I completely ignored the fact that I'm struggling with postpartum depression, which will definitely affect my progress. It was nonsense to think of anything now but my mental health.
I'm not here to tell you to accept a slow progress pace; I'm here to remind myself and you that we don't usually see the whole picture. There are plenty of things we go through that pass unnoticed, though perhaps they are not slowing us down but preparing us for something bigger or delaying what we want now until we can have it fully.