If you want to transform your life, there are two kinds of goals to consider: 
- Achievement Goals and
- Maintenance Goals
It’s important to master both for success and transformation.
They need completely different approaches and often Maintenance Goals can achieve even greater outcomes when Achievement Goals fail.
Achievement Goals
These are the ones that get all the attention.
Basically, you set a goal and you either achieve it in a particular time frame or you don’t.
If you achieve, you succeed and if you don’t, you fail.
Ahhh!!!
So yes, they are powerful goals because there is strong motivation towards a positive outcome and a strong movement away from a negative outcome.
Often in personal development people are encouraged to set huge Achievement Goals.
Unfortunately, this can back fire, because many people become paralysed by the fear of failure.
They then procrastinate, don’t achieve anything and conclude that goal setting is not for them.
Hmmmm!!
To break through this deadlock, it’s great to remember that Achievement Goals are equivalent to hunting.
And while hunting was a powerful food supplement, it was not the only source.
Nor was it the primary food source.
This brings us to . . .
Maintenance Goals
Maintenance Goals allows us to achieve profound result by changing and improving daily habits.
Basically, by altering a daily routine, you can accumulate change and achieve massive outcomes.
Yay!!!! Brilliant!!
Because the changes are small, they are easy to implement.
They do however require regular application until a new habit is formed.
Then, joy of joys, they become automatic.
Hey presto! Before you know it there is a huge difference in your life.
This type of goal setting is akin to Gathering.
Sure, it’s not as spectacular as hunting but it provided the major food source in Hunter Gatherer Societies.
Gathering also took the pressure off hunting, making it more enjoyable because if it failed, it was no big deal.
Everyone just ate all the gathered food.
And if you are wondering . . .
Yes, traditionally but not always, hunting was masculine and gathering was feminine.
Now if we are to thrive, not just survive, we need to do both.
But let’s just get real for a moment.
You need a foundation of survival from which to thrive and maintenance goals do just that!
In the long-term, good Maintenance Goals, will succeed way past Achievement Goals every time.
The problem with Achievement Goals is they take a lot of energy and focus to complete.
Once the goal is achieved often people revert back to bad habits and then find they lose everything they gained.
So in actual fact, the obsession people have with Achievement Goals has become a problem.
People burn themselves out achieving the goal, ignoring other areas of their life and become completely out of balance.
And once they achieve the goal they don’t maintain results, don’t celebrate their gains and become addicted to setting another Achievement Goal to make up for all the wasted time!!
Achievement Goals can also be very stressful because you always want the result yesterday!!!
Hmmm . . .
So what to do?
Let’s look at how Achievement and Maintenance Goals can work together to create harmony in your life while still getting what you want in good time.
In this way we can use the best of the masculine and the feminine to truly regenerate.
Ok, so say you have a health goal that is related to reaching your ideal weight.
In the end, the purpose of the goal is to have better health and energy.
So if you lose weight in a way that makes you miserable, tired and you can’t maintain the result . . . well that’s not really working!!
Even if you achieve the number on the scales you are going after, you may hurt your body and find it doesn’t help you sustain your life style.
When I went on my ideal weight journey this is what I did instead; I combined the Achievement and Maintenance Goals and gained a sustained and rapid result.
Achievement Goal
I sought expert advice about what was my ideal weight considering my height and life-style.
I also measured my weight at regular intervals to see if what I was doing was working.
Maintenance Goal
I then found a balance eating plan, that took into account my individual biochemistry, health and age at the time.
This included my insulin levels, liver and kidney function and how this related to my serotonin and natural human growth hormone levels.
I then followed the diet every day until I reached my ideal weight.
I wasn’t concerned about the time frame because I knew if I followed the eating plan I would get the result.
The eating plan included breakfast, lunch and dinner plus two snacks specifically designed for me in the exact measurements I required.
There were no drops, no shakes, nothing artificial just good food as medicine.
It required me to eat the three main meals at 5 hour intervals with snacks in between.
The food was very specific all designed to stabilise insulin levels and improve liver and kidney function, while ensuring proper metabolism.
I also took natural supplementations to help my blood sugar because at the time I was out of balance.
I had bimonthly blood tests to ensure I was on track so I knew my eating plan was serving my health as well as my weight goals.
I lost about 1 kilo a week. I went from 73 kilos to 57 kilos but I find my best weight is between 58 and 60 kilos. So I’m happy with that.
(I had been on a very restricted diet previously where I went from 84 kilos to 64 kilos but I couldn’t stabilise my weight and ended up at 73 kilos and increasing before I found this protocol)
Instead this protocol was balanced and sustainable and great for my metabolism.
It was also highly effective and the weight loss was steady and dependable with a couple of ups and downs which is normal.
I didn’t have to do anything crazy, it was a walk in the park!!
Why? Because it was specifically designed for me, taking into account my unstable blood sugars and chronic fatigue issues.
What was so amazing was my energy levels improved enormously and my inflammatory markers went right down.
At the end there was a refeeding program for 2 weeks to incrementally introduce new foods.
Then there was a maintenance program.
Which wasn’t much different from the first plan, just more food with even greater variety.
What I loved about this protocol was that there were no extremes.
It was NOT super low in calories.
It did not require fasting and it was balanced in the right proportions for me between the major food groups.
So when I went on the maintenance plan there was no great change from the original eating plan that achieved the weight goal.
Because the initial diet was so well balance, regular and sustainable.
Since then, sure there have been times at Christmas, holidays or travelling particularly to France, where I over indulged!!!
It’s human, it’s fun and to be expected.
And yes I put on some weight during those times but it wasn’t much considering how much I ate!!
And yes sure there were times I had set backs in energy when I overworked or had an infection.
But I could control the level of inflammation and stress in my body and get back on track very quickly compared to years past because I had a protocol to follow.
That’s the beauty of a Maintenance Goal, it doesn’t require you to be perfect.
It just requires you to get back to your maintenance behaviour, when the aberration is over.
The new behaviour just becomes part of how you do your normal life and routine.
In fact if becomes who you are and part of your identity.
So I’d I just get back on my regular eating plan and the weight went back to normal.
Why? Because the process of losing the weight was wonderful for my blood sugar, health and metabolism and it was designed specifically to change my set weight.
This same principle can be applied to so many areas of life.
Health and Wealth do not respond well to ‘all or nothing’ extreme behaviour that stimulates adrenaline and cortisol.
They respond well to setting goals and then stable, balanced, sustainable action towards it, that become part of your regular routine.
Whether this is running a business, saving money or investing, a steady, planned pace makes all the difference in sustainability.
And look I understand!
I am someone who loves to follow inspiration and passion and this creates exciting and productive times and I really enjoy ‘all or nothing’ behaviour.
But I don’t expect it to get the kinds of results it’s not designed to.
One of the greatest lessons I have ever leant in my 20 years as a business owner is that:
The foundation of your business needs to be firm, planned and steady and this makes all the difference to success and sustainability.
Then all your passion can play on this stable foundation.
So if you have set a goal and you find you cannot sustain it inside your normal life, then drop back your activity to something you can regularly manage.
As your new routine and habits change your life, you will have more energy and enthusiasm based on your success.
You can then slowly increase what you are doing.
You will be astounded how quickly the change will accumulate and your life transforms in dramatic ways.
Everyone else will see the magical results.
You will know the secret and be the magician!!!!
PS: Would you like to find other ways of transforming your life? Then come to my free event the 22 Principles of Success, Love and Happiness, how to have what you want even in challenging times. Go to www.pipmckay.com.au/onedayevent
