by Marsupial

Created on: May 13, 2008

We don't want to be here, but one of us was diagnosed with Diabetes. So, here we are (my husband and I) in a nutrition class with a handful of other adults, most of us old and fat. This class is like any other class in any other subject at any other age: you get out of it what you put into it. Since goal-setting has an enormous role in success, each of us should assess where we want to be one week, one month, or years down the road and set appropriate goals along the way.

I learned something about my husband sitting next to him that first day. It's as if we were in high school again, even though I never knew him back then. I was the sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat student, ready with pen in hand and a smile on my face to ease the teacher. He was the sit-in-the-back, ready to crack a joke but squeak by with an impeccable skill at aural learning. When our teacher, a Nurse Practitioner at the hospital, asked us to write down an exercise goal for next week, I nudged my husband to write something down. He whispered back to me, "I'm not a goal-setter; you know that."

Everyone, whether he realizes it or not, is a goal-setter. It may be kept in mind or on paper, kept like a solid vow, or fudged here and there. But, we are all goal-setters. How else could he explain moving across the country to get married and start a family? There were some major goals along the way in that season of our lives along with the overlooked daily goals like making it to work on time. It is impossible to go from morning until night with absolutely no goals. If a person actually accomplishes this, has he not in fact met his goal of not having any goals?

Now that we've established that we are all goal-setters, let's explore where goal-setting can go wrong. Take my husband, for example. He does not write down any goals. He did, however, stick to a very intense regimen at the gym and at home in order to get healthy a few years ago. He did it all without cracking open the handy workbook provided by his trainer. Since learning he is Diabetic, he also has completely cut out soda, which is a small but attainable goal in itself. He simply purposes to do these things and keeps true to himself. This is an area where mental goal-setting can be a strength. If he were to write his goals down, he may actually restrict himself by keeping only those goals. For example, if he were to commit to walking 2 miles a day, he most likely would be satisfied to stop walking after 2 miles every day. But, since regular walking

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