How to Recover From Reaching Your Goals

Has this ever happened to you?

You set yourself a goal. You want to run a marathon, or lose some weight, or climb a mountain, or find your dream job. You tell your friends your new goal, whatever it is, and you write a blog about it, you meet new people who have a similar goal. Your goal becomes a passion. Your entire allotment of free time is centered around this new goal.

And then, you make it. You cross the finish line, the scale gives you that magic number, or you find yourself with a great view of the tops of some clouds. Life is great, you feel great, you are on top of the world (sometimes literally.)

Then you wake up one morning and realize you have no idea what you are going to do now...

I have experienced the same thing on occasion, but for the most part I feel lucky that I have for the most part avoided that post-success crash. If you want to avoid it yourself, then you should make it a habit to always set multiple goals rather than limiting yourself to just one goal.

If you string yourself along with multiple goals, you will never leave yourself in a void when you finish one. Make it a habit to plan 3, 6 or even 12 months in advance where you want to be, and always keep a rolling window of new opportunities open for yourself.

Sometimes, one goal is something that will need to be accomplished before you can achieve the next goal. For example, if you want to run the Boston Marathon, then you first need to run a marathon fast enough to qualify and then remember to send in your registration before it closes.

Other times, your goals may be similar in nature but not related to completing each other. To continue with running examples, maybe you want to run a marathon in under 3 hours, but you also want to run a marathon in every state. You can work towards accomplishing both goals at the same time, but just because you reach one doesn't mean that you'll necessarily complete the other.

Ideally, some of your goals should only be loosely related or (better yet) not related at all. Variety is the spice of life, and having more than one interest can keep you going if you experience setbacks or a loss of motivation and need to take a break.

By not setting just one goal, such as finishing a marathon or climbing a mountain, your focus won't get lost when you complete (or fail to complete) a goal. Your attention may be divided a bit and sometimes your goals may compete with one another, but if you can concentrate on the goals at hand and then move on when you need something fresh then there is always something else that will need doing.

And that way, you are less likely to suffer post-goal-attainment depression.

Blaine Moore is a running coach in Southern Maine with 20 years of training and racing experience, which he shares on his blog at http://news.RunToWin.com - If you would like to get regular tips and training advice along with his his report, The 3 Components of an Effective Workout, then sign up for his newsletter at: http://www.RunToWin.com/newsletter.html Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Blaine_Moore