What’s Your Recovery Plan?
It is impossible to become the person you want to be and avoid all mistakes.
No matter who you are, no matter how worthwhile your goal, you are going to stumble and have “relapses” as you work on your goal. But here’s the good news: IT’S 10000% NORMAL. Seriously, the brain likes repetitiveness because it can put you on auto-pilot when you have a solid routine. The brain likes routine because it doesn’t have to use much energy or will-power. This is why it’s so hard to change your habits, even when you know the change is good for you. Ultimately, setbacks are part of the deal when you’re trying new things, working on goals that impact your routine, or adopting new habits. Accept it – sometimes your willpower is going to win, and sometimes the brain is going to win!
Since we know that change isn’t possible without a few fails, play offense! Create a recovery plan so that you get back on track as quickly as possible. Beating yourself up and feeling guilty are useless emotional exercises unless they motivate you to improve.
Here are a few of my recovery plans:
1 – NEVER make up for missed committments. Instead, just move on. For example, if I miss my Tuesday workout, I don’t do an extra workout. I focus on making sure the Wednesday workout happens.
2 – If I behave in a manner that betrays the kind of person I envision myself to be, I journal about why my values matter. If the situation involves another person, I confess and apologize as quickly as possible. BTW, I actually explain/confess my failure to the other person because humbling experiences make me think twice about making the same choices again. I hate to eat crow.
3 – When I find myself procrastinating about business challenges, I talk to my accountability partner. Somehow, talking about it gives me what I need to actually get ‘er done!
Please comment with your recovery plan! I’d love to hear what you do to keep yourself on track.
I don’t think I have a recovery plan for my goals. I currently have 3 major goals: lose weight by August, end an initimate relationship, and write a book by July 12th. My goal to lose weight has been a goal since 2024 but the date kept getting pushed back. I know what I need to do but failed to do it. Finally, my knees started hurting and the scale was tipping toward 200 lbs. that’s when the light bulb went off. I reached out to my Herbalife coach and joined a 21 day challenge. This has kick started my goal. We have a chat to encourage each other and a wellness check in every Tuesday.
End an intimate relationship, I was hesitant because I didn’t want to let go of the good times. Then a few incidents happened and I began to see that this person was not financially stable and I have depleted my funds paying for trips and other things. After discussing this situation with a few people. I decided this person needs to get out my house. I finally swallowed my fear of what this would look like and told them they need to go.
I joined a writing Cohort to write a book in 30 days. I have not started writing yet, but I need to. We have weekly accountability meetings to discuss our progress.
I never thought about a recovery plan for my goals when I fail. That is something I should implement.
Who I am versus what I do? I am a kind, caring and loving person who has worked hard to heal from the traumatic losses in my life. I am strong because I have persevered to live life to the fullest. I have done things that I never thought I would get to do.
What I do? I am a procrastinator when it comes to projects and me. I somehow get a brain block and can’t seem to get started. I am easily distracted which doesn’t help. My energy level has been low. So most times I don’t feel like doing anything. I have a hard time making tough decisions and then putting them into action.