Lost All Motivation? How to Adjust Your Goals (Not Abandon Them)
You know that feeling when you stare at your to-do list, and instead of feeling motivated, you just want to crawl back under the covers? Your goals you were so excited about a month ago now feel like mountains too steep to climb. If you're nodding along, you're not alone, and more importantly, you're not failing.
Think of your goals like a GPS route. When traffic appears or roads are closed, your GPS doesn't tell you to give up and go home – it recalculates. That's exactly what we're going to do with your goals: recalculate your route while keeping your destination in mind.
In this blog post, we'll explore how to recognize when your goals need adjusting, understand the difference between adjusting and giving up, and learn practical strategies to modify your goals while maintaining your vision. You'll discover how to create sustainable progress systems and build support networks that actually help rather than add pressure.
Signs Your Goals Need Adjusting (Not Abandoning)
Before we dive into how to adjust your goals, let's talk about the signs that you're due for a reset. Just like your car's dashboard has warning lights, your body and mind have signals too.
1. The Exhaustion That Won't Quit
That bone-deep tiredness that doesn't go away with a good night's sleep. When you're dragging yourself through each day, chugging coffee by the gallon, and feeling guilty every time you hit snooze – that's not determination, that's denial of your body's needs.
2. The Overwhelm Spiral
Picture trying to eat an entire cake in one bite. Sounds impossible, right? Yet that's what we often do with our goals. When every goal feels urgent and important, none of them get the attention they deserve.
3. The Feelings of Guilt
If you're feeling guilty more often than you're feeling accomplished, it's time to pause. This isn't about your ability to achieve; it's about whether your current approach is serving you.
4. The "Who Even Am I?" Moment
Sometimes goals need adjusting simply because you've changed. The career goal you set six months ago might need a different timeline now. The fitness routine that worked during summer might need modifications for winter.
The Difference Between Adjusting and Abandoning
Here's a crucial distinction that many women miss: adjusting your goals isn't giving up – it's growing up. Think of it like adjusting your car's mirrors. You're not removing them; you're positioning them to serve you better.
Adjustment shows wisdom because it recognizes that life isn't static. When something isn't working, smart adapters don't throw away their goals – they reshape them to fit their current reality while keeping their eye on the bigger picture.
The key difference lies in intention. Abandonment comes from a place of defeat. Adjustment comes from a place of self-awareness and strategy. When you abandon a goal, you walk away. When you adjust a goal, you walk smarter.
Real-Life Example:
Think about learning a new language. Someone who abandons the goal might quit entirely after missing a few study sessions. Someone who adjusts might change their approach from hour-long evening lessons to 15-minute morning practice sessions, or switch from group classes to a language-learning app that fits their schedule better. The goal of learning the language remains; the approach becomes sustainable.
Practical Steps to Reassess Your Goals
Let's get into the nuts and bolts of how to actually reassess your goals without losing sight of what matters. Think of this like Marie Kondo-ing your goals – we're not throwing everything out, we're thoughtfully deciding what serves your current season of life.
Step 1: The Energy Audit
Grab a notebook and track your energy levels for a week. When are you most alert? When do you crash? You might discover that while you've been forcing yourself to work on passion projects late at night, you actually have a golden hour of energy right after lunch. This simple awareness can help you restructure your day entirely.
Step 2: The Values Check
Ask yourself: If I had to choose just three priorities right now, what would they be? Not what should they be, but what matters most to you? Sometimes we carry goals that belonged to our past selves or, worse, to other people's expectations. Think of it like cleaning out your closet – some things just don't fit anymore, and that's okay.
Step 3: The Reality Map
List out your non-negotiable commitments. Work hours, neccasary household tasks, and standing commitments. These are your fixed pieces – like the edge pieces of a puzzle. Everything else needs to fit around them, not the other way around.
Strategies for Goal Adjustment
Now that you know what you're working with, let's talk about how to adjust your goals to fit your real life.
1. The Slice and Dice Method
Instead of "get fit," try "walk for 15 minutes three times a week." Instead of "start a business," try "spend two hours each Saturday working on my business plan." Think of it like eating a sandwich – you wouldn't unhinge your jaw to eat it whole. You take manageable bites. The same goes for your goals.
2. The Buffer Zone Strategy
Whatever timeline you think you need, add 50%. Why? Because life happens. Unexpected work projects emerge, friends need support, your own energy fluctuates, and sometimes opportunities arise that you want to say yes to. Plus, you deserve breathing room. Think of it like planning a road trip – you know the direct route might take 5 hours, but you plan for 7.5 to account for traffic, rest stops, or that interesting local café you spot along the way. When you build in these buffer zones, you're not just being realistic – you're setting yourself up to consistently hit your targets while maintaining your peace of mind.
3. The Energy-Based Planning Method
Match your tasks to your energy levels, not just your time slots. For instance:
- High energy: Tackle creative work, important decisions, challenging tasks
- Medium energy: Handle routine work, planning, organization
- Low energy: Complete simple tasks, do light physical activities
Creating a Sustainable Progress System
Here's where many goal-setting approaches fall short – they don't account for sustainability. Let's fix that.
1. The Minimum Viable Progress (MVP) Approach
Identify the absolute minimum you need to do to keep moving forward. On great days, you'll do more. On tough days, hitting your MVP keeps you in the game.
For example, if your goal is to write a book:
- Maximum goal: Write 2,000 words per day
- MVP: Write for 15 minutes or 200 words, whichever comes first
Think of it like maintaining a garden – even if you can't do a full weeding session, pulling just a few weeds keeps the garden from becoming completely overgrown.
2. The Celebration Strategy
Your brain needs wins to stay motivated. Create milestone markers that are actually achievable. It's like playing a video game – you don't just celebrate beating the final boss; you celebrate clearing each level along the way. Maybe it's treating yourself to your favorite coffee shop when you've stuck to your new morning routine for three days straight, or sharing your progress with a friend when you've hit a milestone.
3. The Flexibility Framework
Build in designated adjustment points – maybe the first Sunday of each month – where you formally review and adjust your approach. Think of it like updating your GPS route – regular recalculations keep you on track even when circumstances change.
Remember that progress isn't always linear. Some weeks you'll take two steps forward and one step back. That's not failing – that's being human.
Building Support Systems That Work
The myth of the totally self-sufficient achiever just isn´t true. Even the most successful people have support systems – they just might not talk about them. Let's explore how to create support that actually helps rather than adds pressure.
The Power of Guidance from a Health Coach
While you can certainly implement changes on your own, working with a health coach can significantly accelerate your success and make the journey more enjoyable. Think of a health coach as your personal strategic advisor for lifestyle transformation – similar to how you might work with a business coach for your career. They bring expertise in behavior change, provide personalized accountability, and help you navigate obstacles before they become roadblocks.
A health coach will help you identify blind spots in your implementation, develop strategies tailored to your unique lifestyle, and adjust your plans as needed. They're particularly valuable for busy women because they can help you optimize your efforts, ensuring that every action you take moves you efficiently toward your goals.
Plus, having regular check-ins with someone who understands both the science of habit formation and the realities of a demanding schedule can provide the structure and support needed to make lasting changes. The investment in a health coach often pays dividends not just in faster results, but in developing sustainable habits that stick long after your coaching relationship ends.
I'd love to share more about how we could work together to turn your resolutions into lasting lifestyle changes. Whether you're looking to optimize your energy, enhance your wellness routine, or create sustainable healthy habits that fit your busy schedule, I'm here to help. Book a free discovery call with me to explore how personalized health coaching could support your goals – simply click the button below to learn more about how it can look like to work together.
Here´s what one of my former clients Elizabeth said after working together:
“You have really helped me. My main goal when starting this coaching program was to help motivate me to work on myself to get my life back on track and learn how to balance my physical health and mental health. You helped me work toward this goal by guiding me on mindfulness, and by building a menu that fit my likes and my needs.
After working with Solveig, I have been able to sleep better, eat healthier, be kinder to myself, and I even lost weight in the process (in 4 weeks) and I was able to get back to my 4 (even 5) workouts a week goal.
What helped me the most about your coaching style is that you took into consideration everything going on in my life.
I would recommend my coach to anyone who is going through life transitions, feels stuck or wants a healthier lifestyle. I loved everything about the program! The fact that we covered so many things in my life that were blocking me from being productive and balancing my life and health. My favorites were our talks and the menu you custom-made for me!!! I also loved the nudge you gave me to go out on a solo trip.”
Making Space for What Matters
Here's the truth about achieving goals sustainably: it's not about doing more, it's about making space for what matters. This means:
1. The Strategic No
Every time you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. Make your "nos" intentional. For instance, saying no to after-work drinks might mean saying yes to an hour of focused work on your passion project.
2. The Energy Investment Rule
Before adding anything new to your plate, ask: "What's the energy cost, not just the time cost?" Some activities give you energy while others drain it. Choose accordingly.
3. The Minimum Effective Dose
What's the smallest change that could make the biggest impact? Often, it's not about massive overhauls but small, strategic adjustments. Like adjusting your morning routine by just 15 minutes to include meditation or journaling.
Conclusion:
Remember when we started talking about losing motivation? Here's what we now know: It's often not motivation that's missing – it's sustainability and self-trust.
When you adjust your goals thoughtfully rather than abandoning them:
- You build confidence in your ability to follow through
- You learn to work with your natural rhythms instead of against them
- You create results that actually last
The Next Step
Start small. Choose one goal that's been frustrating you and apply the adjustment strategies we've discussed. Maybe it's:
- Breaking it down into smaller pieces
- Adding buffer time to your timeline
- Matching tasks to your energy levels
- Setting up a simple support system
The path to achieving your goals isn't about pushing harder – it's about planning smarter and choosing sustainability over speed.
Your goals matter. They're worth taking the time to adjust and nurture. And sometimes, the "slower" path is actually the fastest way to lasting success.
Want to make this real? Take five minutes right now to identify one goal that needs adjusting. Not abandoning – adjusting. What's one small change you could make to that goal to make it more sustainable?
The journey to your goals doesn't have to feel like an uphill battle. With thoughtful adjustments and the right support, it can feel more like an interesting adventure – one where you're equipped to handle whatever comes your way.
