Don’t let that summer goal fall with the Autumn leaves.

(read time: 1:45)

August is traditionally known as the month of the harvest. Though this pertains to crops, I like to think of it as a check in time before the summer ends. It allows me to pause and assess if there are things I still want to do with the remaining warm and sunny days, and then to take steps to do those things before Autumn descends and the leaves fall.

YOUR BOOST

STOP and take stock of your summer. Did you cross everything off your bucket list, or do you have something you’d still like to do before the season changes?

DEFINE and visualize the details, from how you want to feel to how it will play out. Write the goal down, using the descriptors from your visualization to guide you.

LIST the steps you need to take to make it happen.

CHECK-IN to keep yourself from getting off-task.

THE SCIENCE

it is all too easy to let life get away from us and to get off-task. Although distractibility from goals, even small ones, is a nuisance for most people at some point, for those of us with a traumatic brain injury, especially if it comorbid with PTSD, goal neglect happens frequently and is observed to regularly interfere with staying on task.

I bring this up because it is from TBI research that Goal Management Training developed. The protocol of Stop, Define, List, and Accountability has a ton of data showing just how well this simple tool is at developing healthy goal-oriented behaviors. And we can all learn from it, TBI or not.

TAKE HOME

Don’t let your summer slip away without harvesting something wonderful. It’s not too late to do that thing, and you can lean on the simple steps of Goal Management Training to make it happen before the season ends.

No shame, no guilt, just more good days,

Nicole