We are now several weeks into shelter-in-place and I’ve talked to many friends who have seen their enthusiasm to work on goals range from “I’ve got all the time to do what I need now” to “I don’t have any energy to do anything today.” Often during the same day!

This is an interesting time. We have SO much more of it than we ever did. That means we have all the time we need to work on those DIY projects, to work out 6 times a week, or work on any number of goals now that we have the time, right?

The answer may be yes. And it may be no.

The emotions I’m facing during this pandemic go from high to low with some regularity. I may wake up full of energy only to find myself knocked off track by world events or finding that a friend is struggling. It’s a wave of emotions and it seems the surfboard I’m on isn’t quite as sturdy as it used to be.

Log into Facebook and it seems like a wall of challenges: Workout challenges, food challenges, DIY and what not. It seems all the world is doing more than we are during this pandemic. Everything is telling us to be more productive. Use all this extra time wisely. And yet….there are times we just don’t want to.

For those of us that are used to pushing ourselves and achieving our goals, it’s hard to accept that we just may not have the enthusiasm even though we have the time.

As the goal setting guy, I’m always up for a great challenge and usually push myself to accomplish everything I’ve put on my Goals sheet. But I’m giving myself some grace these days. I’m accepting there are days I just don’t have the juice. I’m not trying to fight it and I’m not guilting myself.

This isn’t to say the entire shelter-in-place timeline is an excuse to not do anything. It’s just accepting that there are going to be days that we are out of sorts, feeling lonely or depressed. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and our world has been turned upside down. Overnight, many of us have had our lives disrupted. Sure, we may have more time but there’s a lot more baggage to carry now. And sometimes that baggage weighs us down.

It’s during those times that I encourage you to allow yourself some grace. It’s a great time to talk to your accountability partner to get some perspective. Mine has been a godsend during this past month. On the days I’ve been low, he’s challenged me to accept it as it is and cut myself some slack. I’ve been able to offer the same in return. Overall, I’m doing okay with my goals. This week has been a very good week of achievement. Last week was not. And that’s okay.

I’m allowing myself some grace.

 

How about you?

#GoalsThatMatter