I am so excited to talk to you about goals today because setting a goal is one of the best things I ever did for myself to help me feel better. I think we all love that sense of accomplishment, and as a mom, I’m sure you can relate.

You know that feeling you have when you go to bed at night and you just feel so good. Satisfied. Maybe you didn’t do everything that you wanted to do, but you did the most important things.

I get this feeling when I do the things I’ve been putting off. Things I was dreading doing.

When you finally do what you've been putting off and you realized it wasn’t actually that hard and then you feel so good knowing they’re done and you can quit thinking about them. That good feeling is what I love about setting goals and having something to look forward to.

Now, your brain isn’t going to want to set goals. It’s going to tell you that you already have too much to do. It will tell you that you’re too busy. That you have a house to clean and kids to take care of and meals to cook and laundry to do…

But here’s the thing. Whatever you tell yourself is possible...you will create as being possible. If you keep thinking that you don’t have enough time, you’re going to not have enough time.

If you keep thinking there's not room for goals in your life...you will be right.

And I get it. I used to be the same way. I used to tell myself that it wasn't fair, that there wasn't enough time for me to work on me. 

Your brain wants to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and use the least amount of energy as possible. Of course it’s not going to want to set a goal. Setting a goal is going to cause you to be uncomfortable, to grow, and use effort to do it.

Today, I’m going to tell you that setting a goal can actually help you feel better.

You’re probably thinking I’m nuts. This goes against what your brain wants to do. How is being uncomfortable going to help you feel better?

If you’ve been around here a while, you know that life is 50/50. Half of the time it’s going to be amazing, and half of the time it’s going to be terrible.

There is no way around this, it’s just how the world works.

Let’s take a look at what happens when you set a goal.

When you set a goal, you give your brain something to focus on. When you know what to focus on, it’s easier to decide how you want to feel.

How often in your day-to-day are you intentionally directing your brain and telling it what to focus on? Just this step alone will have you feeling better.

Besides, if life is 50/50, why not be in control of both sides of that?

And when I say 'be in control' I'm not talking about being controlling. I'm talking about choosing on purpose and taking responsibility for your decisions. Taking control of YOU.

What if, instead of feeling the unpleasant emotion of having a rushed morning, you instead felt the uncomfortable feeling of getting up early?

Which one will bring you closer to the life you want?

The most uncomfortable time is when you’re in bed thinking about getting up. As soon as you’re up moving around, it’s not that bad. And, feeling tired is part of waking up. Nothing has gone wrong.

What would your life be like if you decided on purpose what your 50% unpleasant emotions were?

Yes, life is still going to be 50/50, but what I’m saying is that you can have the unpleasant half be productive for you.

The number one reason to set a goal is to give your brain focus.

Think about how your day went yesterday.

Then, think about how it would have went if you decided on purpose to finish everything before noon because you had an appointment. Or maybe you had company coming over.

You can sit around and think about cleaning your house and not want to do it and feel down about it, or you can clean it even if you don’t feel like cleaning it, and spend the rest of the day having fun.

Because here’s what happens when you don’t have a goal. Your brain is like an unsupervised toddler. It will run around when it’s supposed to walk. It will spin in circles thinking about things over and over and over. It will find a sharpie and see what fun can be had.

It will get mad and blame external things for feeling bad and scream and holler and try to manipulate everything else as a way to feel better. It doesn’t want to take responsibility for anything. It thinks it shouldn’t have to. It’s just a toddler, after all.

But as soon as you set a goal, you are deciding to be in charge. You are being the adult.

Here's what this looks like:

If you tell yourself you’re not eating sugar, you have to be the adult and sit with the desire to eat the sugar and not allow yourself to eat it.

If you tell yourself you're going to workout, you have to be the adult and do the workout knowing you're not going to feel like it but also knowing that afterwards you are going to be glad you did it.

You have to decide on purpose that you’re willing to feel uncomfortable in order to get to where you want to be.

Because really, whether you decide on purpose or not, life is still going to be 50/50. Instead, set a goal and create that focus so you can direct your brain to where you want it to go.

The more you direct your brain, the more your life will start to look how you imagined it to be.

Alright. In the comments, tell me your thoughts about goal setting! I want to hear what goal you want to set but feel scared to do it.