Pivot, Don’t Quit: Adjusting Goals When Life Gets Messy
Let’s be honest, plans rarely go as we imagined. And if they do, you’re lying!
I know I’ve made SO many plans and goals, and when they don’t pan out like I imagined, I fight myself to try and keep making it happen. Or I struggle with doubting how capable I am.
And have I gotten better at setting and keeping my goals now?
Haha. NOPE.
But what I have gotten better at is catching myself and adjusting when life happens and things come up. I’m not soft or failing or not trying hard enough. I’m being realistic with what I’m wanting my life to be and look like.
And currently, my initial goals and plans to achieve them aren’t working with where I’m at currently. So instead of silently changing them, I wanted to go through how I approach adjusting my goals, being realistic and reframing for actual success.
Because the goal is small doable steps to big or small changes. And here’s how we’ll do that with 3 simple questions:
What’s currently working and what’s not?
Has anything changed in my priorities, energy, or circumstances?
What’s one small, actionable step I can take to move forward?
What’s currently working and what’s not?
For me I started out this year with what I considered reasonable goals. I had just started a part-time job as an early morning baker, I had 2 Pinterest clients and was planning to grow my blog through different social medias.
I wanted to stick with weekly blog posts, post daily on Instagram, schedule out 1-3 posts on Pinterest per day, and look into YouTube videos again to go with my blog.
I wanted to try and add 3 more Pinterest clients to my list and try to gain more smaller jobs with it.
And then work my normal 3 days a week at the bakery, maybe adding in a 4th every few weeks on a Saturday.
These were my 2025 goals, along with consistent exercise, better eating and hydration, reading more and taking care of myself better. Nothing too crazy I thought.
Wouldn’t you know, lack of sleep, changes in the US, little will to eat some days and big high to low emotions would make that difficult. Not counting some books that have consumed my soul and left me hungover for a couple days before the next one (stay tuned as I share those books, they’re SO good!).
All this to say, my initial plan of accomplishing these goals isn’t working. I still want to keep them, but I looked at this more as a do it all now or else I’m a failure and it’s not going to work.
So wouldn’t you be surprised when I’m exhausted after work, can barely keep my eyes open, the last thing I want to do is apply to more Pinterest Management jobs, outline my next blog post, make simple content or try to vlog my day.
I’m kidding by the way. This shouldn’t surprise you at all! And if this sounds familiar for you too, don’t worry. We’re going to work through this!
Because for the things that aren’t working, we need to look at if we even want to goal we set out.
So, for example, me growing my social accounts alongside my blog, I wanted to commit to too much. Even though the content and the plan all made sense, I was stressing about it too much. And if you’re stressing about it more than it needs to be, you’ll find excuses to not do it, or make it as hard as you think it will be.
I still want to grow my socials, but I need to start small. It doesn’t have to be all at once, even if people are pushing that as THE thing to do.
So for me, I’m going to post at least 3-4 different things a week: When my blog comes out, weekly updates on my health and fitness goals, books I’m currently reading or finished, and an extra reel based on my blog or a little vlog of my day.
THAT seems more manageable and like something I can stick with and add to if things change.
But it’s little adjustments like that for goals you set and still want to see through, but the way you initially set out to do it isn’t working.
Has anything changed in my priorities, energy, or circumstances?
Now the next option for your goals, is that things HAVE changed and either no longer are a goal you want to focus on, or the way you’re approaching it needs to be adjusted.
For example, my goal of working out after my job needs to change. I originally planned to go right after work, but I’m STARVING by the time I’m done. So I have to eat when I get home.
And that sets me back. I need to digest before I can go in, and that 30-60 minute window before I got to the gym, I get TIRED. Like I fell asleep on the couch yesterday for almost 2 hours tired.
So there are a few things I need to look at when it comes to adjusting this goal.
I still want to work out after my job AND after I eat. It’s a good time that still allows me to get things done and call it a day early (ideally) and get enough sleep. So that’s not changing.
So, since I’m still going to stick with the plan, how do I stay awake now? Before I would watch a video or scroll on social media, and I can still do that and be intentional with what I watch to keep me in a positive mood for the gym, but I need to plan something else engaging in the meantime. So I’m going to try either going for a small walk to help with digestion AND guarantee I get a walk in, or plan on manually posting something on social media to grow my blog OR connect with people to potentially gain clients for Pinterest. This will allow me to stay engaged and still get to the gym.
And finally, I need more sleep friend! The 3-5 hours I get on the nights I work the bakery are not cutting it for the rest of my day, or life really. So I’m going to try some sleepy tea I have, be more intentional with what I consume before bed, and if nothing else, try melatonin.
When it comes to goals, sometimes it’s just a small adjustment that needs to be made, or it needs to be thrown out because it no longer serves you.
Like I’m pausing my Pinterest client search until I get my week figured out. That means I’m posting my blog, posting on YouTube, posting on Instagram, getting my workout and walk in, trying to have more veggies, and getting more than 6 hours of sleep EVERY night.
Once all that fits together well, then I can start making progress on more clients.
Remember, just because it was a goal you made at the beginning of the year, doesn’t mean it has to happen day one. You can start working on it 6-8 months into 2025.
It’s ok!
What’s one small, actionable step I can take to move forward?
I shared above how I plan to approach a goal that needs a little adjustment, and what the different options to try can look like. I also shared how sometimes you need to reel it in on goals and start smaller before building up to a bigger or more dedicated approach.
Now let me share another example of how a simple actionable step can lead to bigger progress.
So I want to start eating better, and by better I mean more fruit and veggies. I’ve been in such a sad gremlin mood where a few nights all I could manage was popcorn and a protein shake. Like that’s it!
So, along with choosing simple and easy meals for when I have no energy to even exist some days, I’m working to add in a smoothie each day. So something that has fruit and spinach in it to start getting me more in the routine of this.
Is it perfect? No.
Could I be doing more? Of course.
But right now, this is what I have. I don’t want to do much more than this, and it’s better than nothing.
So with all of this being said, here’s an example of how I plan to approach and “retry” my goals for 2025 now.
I have a better approach and view of how I’m going to be writing for my blog, and have the next 4 blog post ideas planned out. They seem doable and fun to write. I also am ok if the blog gets written later in the day, so the pressure of getting it done before 6a is gone now.
Instagram will be a casual 3-4 posts a week, basically repurposing content I already made, so I don’t have to stress about it.
Pinterest is fine.
YouTube will be the hardest challenge because I live with my boyfriend, and the last time I vlogged or made videos, I lived alone. So I can make videos early in the morning when he’s sleeping, I can make them casually in my car, or I can make them while he’s hanging out with friends each week. Then, once I’m more comfortable, I won’t care if he can hear me. Right now, I’m just embarrassed to have someone else hear me, but I need to start somewhere to get going.
For my Pinterest clients, I’m going to hold off on reaching out to them until the spring. I just have too much I want to work on and get settled in before I bring on more clients, or even think to bring on more clients. It’s super simple once I have them set up, but it’s the initial set up that takes a lot of time. And I just don’t have the abilities for that right now.
And finally, my goal with fitness is to make it a hobby and not my identity like I did for so many years. With a hobby, it’s flexible, it’s something I want to do, and it has so many different options to do it. I want to try different classes, hire a trainer, explore the different gyms in town and also hike more trails we have. So when I approach it that way and make it flexible, it’s ok if I’m sick or not feeling good and take a rest day. The goal is to do this for life, and life doesn’t care if a day or 2 was taken off. It’s a habit I want to build.
Along with my food. The more routine I can get again with simple cooking, the more I’ll want to keep doing it. So starting small and having a win be when I have a smoothie that day is a great place to start.
The other thing being reading, I get into such slumps with wanting to read and then being overwhelmed with life. But planning on ending my day with reading and having it be the thing I look forward too when there’s nothing planned on the weekend is what I’m most excited about! There’s so many stories and worlds and important voices to hear that now more than ever it’s important to keep at it. And I’m talking fiction books, not self help books.
All this to say, I’m going to keep trying. We’re not going for perfection here, we’re going for consistency. And that’s measured over a long period of time.
So good news, you’ve got PLENTY of that to keep at it!
I know it can be stressful to want to get things done and do a lot right away. But it’s also ok to take things slower in order to make them stick.
You have to do what works best for you, and not worry about anything else outside of that.
Again, the more flexible you can make the life you want, the more you’ll be able to keep it when life gets messy. And we want a healthy and fulfilling life to support you in doing the things you were put on this earth to do.
