I’ve decided that making a gingerbread house is a lot like achieving goals – whether you want to spend more time with the kids, find a new career, or lose weight the same rules apply:
1. If at first you don’t succeed try again. Your first attempt may not work, or the second, but you will be successful if you keep at it. The first gingerbread house I bought to make with the kids was WAY too complicated and a total failure (mix your own icing, loooooooooong wait times, etc.) I made a second trip to the store and still had all the candy to use from the first. Be open to changing or modifying your goals as you begin to work with them, simplify them, which brings me to my next rule.
2. Get support (i.e. buy the more expensive house). It may be hiring a trainer or a career coach, but do what you need to do to help you succeed.
3. Manage your expectations. I’ve mentioned before that expectations are the pictures we have in our mind of what we think life should look like. The house we made looks nothing like the one on the package. Often when we are feeling frustrated, anxious, depressed – it is because reality doesn’t match up to the snapshots in our mind. Losing weight doesn’t mean dropping two pants sizes in 30 days. It is about changing a lifestyle and becoming a healthier person. Making changes to your professional life is really about discovery, clarification, and a lot of small steps. Your “ideal” position may look nothing like what you thought when you started out. And we often put tremendous pressure on ourselves when we set relationships goals. Spending more time with our family may initially be an extra 15 minutes of time when we focus solely on our children and what they are interested in.
4. It is the journey that matters not the destination. Goals are important but the real learning and change occurs along the way. Slow down and enjoy the view, even if it is a little lopsided, it is always sweet.

(In the interest of having a balanced life I haven't gotten to posting the pics of our gingerbread experiment check back soon!)

 


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