“Is your goal specific? Broad is bad!“

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 2, I want to ask the question, are your goals specific? 

Often times, we set goals for ourselves that are very broad and lack specific details on what you need to do in order to accomplish those goals. 

Change your broad, general goals into specific goals by adding details like numbers and dates. 

Turn, “I want to lose weight this year” into, “I will lose 20 pounds by December 31st”. 

If you do not make your goals specific, you leave too much room for failure. It is much more likely that you will complete a goal that you can measure. 

Goals with numbers allow you to know exactly how much you have accomplished and how much more you have to go. 

Goals like, “I want to lose weight this year”, “I want to lift more weight this year”, “I want to read more this year”, and “I want to save money this year” are all far too broad and do not give you anything specific to work towards. 

Chasing a broad goal is like throwing darts at a dart board while blindfolded. You have an idea of what you’re trying to hit, but you don’t have anything to aim at. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “realistic” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal simple? Simple is easier!“.

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

Firstly, I want to ask you the question, is your goal simple? 

Simple goals are easier for us to accomplish. That might sound like a no-brainer; however, we often times set goals for ourselves that are overly complicated and difficult. 

Don’t say, “This year I am going to start a strenuous exercise routine every day, twice a day, for 2 hours each day, and three times on the weekends at precisly 7am, 5pm, and 9pm”; change your goal to something like, “I am going to excercise twice as often than I did last year, before and after work”. 

When you make your goals super, super complicated, you leave a lot more room for failure. Perfectionism has more room to smack you in the face and tell you that if you miss exercising at 7am, you might as well not work out at all that day. 

Simple goals allow more room for adjustments and “failure”. 

It is a lot harder to stick to a strict, over complicated goal than it is a simple one. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “specific” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“You are what you eat“.

What does that mean?

We have all heard the phrase, “you are what you eat”, but I want to bring it into a different context for you.

We become what we consume.

Isn’t that just another way to say the same thing? Yes, but not necessarily. 

The type of content we consume, the people we listen to the most, and the things we tell ourselves every day form our personality and create who we are.  

It’s time to stop feeding ourselves with negativity, hate, and darkness and start consuming more positivity, hope, and joy. 

If you have ever wondered why you struggle to find joy, why you’re always so angry, or why you never feel satisfied, maybe you need to take a look at what you’ve been taking in on a daily basis. 

The type of music and podcasts we listen to, the types of movies and TV shows we watch, and the top 5 people we spend the most time around profoundly affect us more than we realize. 

Cut out the toxic people in your life, change your playlist, and invest in more positive, motivational content.

You might just begin to notice a change in who you are – for the better! 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Find Your Walking Stick!“

What does that mean?

While out hiking not too long ago, one of my fellow hikers was saying she didn’t think she could have made it up a steep incline if not for the walking stick she brought. 

This small interaction was huge to me! How many times do we struggle to climb the mountains in life because we do it without a walking stick? 

Now, of course I don’t mean an actual, physical walking stick. What I am talking about is someone or something to lean on that provides us with the extra support we need to overcome the mountains in our lives.  

We all need someone or something to help keep us steady as we tackle life’s many challenges.

For some people, a physical human being is their support: a friend, coworker, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, sibling, cousin, etc. 

For other people, they rely on something more spiritual like God and the Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes people have multiple “walking sticks” that help them better navigate the up-hill battles of life. 

While you can’t rely on someone or something else in life to carry you through difficult seasons, you can always grab onto a “walking stick” to help make things a little easier; find your walking stick! 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Comfortability will cost you; there are benefits to stepping out of your comfort zone!“

What does that mean?

Have you ever been driving through town and noticed two separate gas stations across the road from each other; however, one of the gas stations is cheaper per gallon than the other? 

Have you ever noticed that people still stop by the more expensive gas station to get gas instead of driving right across the street to save money? 

Maybe they have just grown so comfortable with the more expensive gas station and they know what to expect there. Everyone knows them there, and they would feel uncomfortable going across the street to try something different. 

The people who choose to pay the extra at the more expensive gas station have a level of comfortability that is now costing them more money.  

We are the same way sometimes; we will often times hang around the same people and places even though those people and places are costing us big time. 

We have to be brave enough to walk away from the people, places, and things that cost us our peace, time, money, and life.

Life presents us with many different opportunities to change our situation, but we have to make the decision to leave what we have always known and take a leap of faith into the unknown. 

Comfortable is easy, but it will often times cost you more than you will ever know. 

If the good things in life were easy, everyone would be happy; however, sometimes we have to make the difficult decision to get a little uncomfortable in order to reach our life’s full potential.

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Stop focusing on the bad and start highlighting the good”.

What does that mean?

It is very easy to look at our life, our relationships, our friendships, and our jobs and make a list of all the bad things, the negative attributes, and times things didn’t live up to your expectations. 

What if we tried something different? 

We use highlighters when we want to make something good, positive, encouraging, and important stand out. Why not do the same thing in our lives and relationships? 

Why is it so much easier to point out what someone is doing wrong versus what they are doing that is good?

When we use a highlighter on our lives and relationships it allows for us to highlight the good in our lives and relationships instead of all the bad. 

Take the time to highlight the good things in your life and what the people around you are excelling at. 

Not every person you meet is failure and not every single day is filled with nothing but horrible things. 

If you take a step back and analyze your life and relationships, you will find that there are a lot of highlighter-worthy moments and attributes. 

Make someone’s day and highlight their accomplishments.

Make your own day by highlighting some accomplishments of your own.

Make a dark, gloomy, and depressing day better by highlighting the few good moments you experienced. 

Be a highlighter in the lives of those around you and your own!

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Take some time to reflect on everything you have to be thankful for.”

What does that mean?

We spend so much of our day, so much of our lives worried about what we DON’T have.

We are envious of our neighbors, constantly trying to “keep up with the Joneses”. 

We very rarely take the time to slow down, take a step back, and reflect on everything we already have to be thankful for.

The month of Thanksgiving is almost over, and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. There is no better time to reflect back on everything you have to be thankful for this year.  

Comparison breeds discontent, reflection brings contentment.  

If you are always wanting more, more, more, if you are always looking at what others have, and if you are always looking ahead, you will be discontent, angry, resentful, and frustrated. 

If you stop, look back, and reflect, you will realize everything you already have to be thankful for. 

Not to say it isn’t important to set goals, look forward to exciting, new things, and constantly work to improve yourself and your life; those things have their place as well. 

The important part is not to ONLY focus on the future. You will never fully appreciate the future and where you’re going if you don’t take the time to be thankful for where you’ve been. 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Be thankful for who you have the potential to be!”

What does that mean?

Have you ever heard or used any variation of the phrase “I’m too ____________”? 

“I’m too young”, “I’m too old”, I’m too poor”, “I’m too tired”, “I’m too uneducated”, or anything like that? 

We often times discount ourselves before giving ourselves the shot to accomplish our goals, dreams, and aspirations. 

We sell ourselves short and put limitations on ourselves before we even try. 

We’ll never reach out potential if we limit ourselves; we need to start be thankful for who we can still become!

If there is still breath in your lungs, you still have a plan and a purpose for your life.

Sometimes, we have to take a leap of faith into the unknown to achieve what we have been called to achieve. 

So many people waste their potential by creating excuse after excuse, but that doesn’t have to be you! 

Start today by being thankful that who you are today doesn’t have to be who you are tomorrow. Every day is a new opportunity to take ahold of your purpose and run with it. 

You can be so much more and you can do so much more than you give yourself credit for.

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Be thankful when you fail, be thankful when things don’t go according to plan”.

What does that mean?

Failure often gets a bad reputation. Failure causes us to get mad, frustrated, and angry; however, what if we flipped the script on that? What if we started being thankful when things didn’t work out?

Crazy, right? I don’t think so!

Failure teaches us, corrects us, and disciplines us. When we don’t get the outcome we wanted, we have to trust there is a reason behind it. 

What if we didn’t get what we wanted when we wanted it because it was protecting us from something or preparing us for something? 

What if failure was meant to protect and prepare us?

What if you were running late for work to protect you from an accident? 

What if you didn’t get the job because there was a better option coming soon?

What if you didn’t win so it would push you to be better? 

What if that relationship didn’t work out because there was someone better who wouldn’t hurt you as badly? 

What if you go sick and couldn’t go out and you didn’t get robbed or assaulted?

Those are a lot of examples, but they all say the same thing; sometimes things don’t work out for your benefit. Sometimes your plans have to fail so that you can succeed. 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Be Thankful!”

What does that mean?

It is finally November, the month with a holiday meant for reflection and giving thanks. 

We spend so much time wanting more and more and being so ungrateful, but I believe it is high time to change that. 

It is so easy to point out things that aren’t going right, or things we wish we had; however, it is vital for us to take time to reflect on what we have to be thankful for.  

Why do we expect to be blessed with more if we aren’t thankful for what we already have?

Being thankful shouldn’t be reserved to just one Thursday a year, we should practice gratuity every single day!

You have breath, your needs are met, indoor plumbing exists, we rarely ever have to fear for our lives, many of us have jobs and families, many of us have vehicles and phones, and all of us have much more to be thankful for than we ever take the time to realize. 

I hope you will join me for the rest of this year and take time each day to simply be thankful for what you have, what you’ve survived, and what’s still possible.

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees.