Plan on hating it

Setting goals is exciting. We get inspired, have a vision, and imagine how it will feel after the accomplishment. We buy running shoes and fit bits, a nice journal and fancy pens, and if you’re like me, make a detailed excel spreadsheet of how to execute the plan. 

And then it’s time to do the thing. And surprise: you don’t feel like doing it. 

You might feel inspired and motivated in deciding to run the marathon. But those feelings will be in short supply when you're getting up at 6a to run in the dark. 

It’s the same with lugging frozen organic waste to the farmers market compost pile, or looking at the bureaucratic burden of switching to renewable energy. That's not the fun part of being sustainable. But we’re not doing it because it’s fun, we do it to live in integrity with our values of wanting to mitigate the harm we collectively do to the planet. 

For better or worse, our brain wants us to do the fun thing. Or at least the least painful, easy thing. That’s because our motivations for survival are still driving a lot of our decision making. 

You might be putting pleasure first with goals like eating more second helpings, watching more TV, leaving work earlier, or taking more naps. In which case, you’re lucky to have evolutionary biology on your side.

But most likely, your new habit or goal will be hard. It will take energy, focus, and doing things differently. And your brain hates all of that. So don’t count on wanting to do what you set out to do. Instead, make a plan and put it on your calendar. Hold yourself accountable to your schedule like you would if your plans were with someone else. And if all that fails, let’s talk about how I can help.