The power of goals is in keeping your vision and managing your behavior in large ways and small to meet that vision. Having goals in and of themselves is not going to assure someone reaches them, but if there are no goals then the chances of them reaching one are zero or less.

When I started all of this (not the blog, the diabetes and the subsequent quest to improve my health), I had some rather nebulous goals, and in fact, until recently I never had any weight goals. Today, however, that’s changed–I’m actually trying to hold myself to a weight goal, as imperfect as those are.

What does having a goal have to do with my behavior? It helps me remember where I’m trying to go, and more importantly, to make choices about my own behavior. If I’m hungry, I have a choice about what (if anything) I’m going to eat; if I’m lazy, I need to remember that I’m making a choice whether or not to work out that day and what the consequences of not doing so could be. It’s not really any different that what we do when we try to get others (whether they’re children or adults) to manage their behavior–choices and consequences. But if my goals are done properly and I remember what the real goal is every day, many times a day, I have opportunities every day to question my behavior and make choices–for better or worse.

I’m working on a goal of getting down to 165 pounds right now; I’m still around 183 pounds this morning. Please help me by reminding me every day what my goal is and what my choices are–as well as the consequences–in my quest to reach this goal.