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Short term v. long term

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

Ok... I did it. Wrote out my plan and posted it on my blog, my bulletin board and marked the dates in my calendar.

Don't nobody be holdin' ur breath here... this be one a dem L O N G term plans!

The timing works for me, or at least I believe it will. Reaching the long term goal in June is significant because that will be my one year anniversary of quitting smoking. Hmmm... I need to figure out some sort of BIG reward for reaching two really significant goals.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 653

Hi ~m,

This is awesome! You are doing really well and are really getting the idea about the goal setting. The way you are structuring them to cut down slowly makes sense to me. Are you going to put this down in writing on a calendar to keep track of each week's goal? Or do you have a different plan? A big wall chart with gold stars!?

Combined with the Marble Method, you are sure to succeed!

Keep us posted.

Tiana, Health Educator

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

Thank you healthyj... that means a lot coming from someone who has been so successful at changing your relationship with alcohol. Your encouragement is much appreciated (and needed!).

I think I have finally found a simple, inexpensive reward system that will help motivate me to reach my short term goals. It is a behavior modification program called The Marble Method. It has been adapted from a method used in schools to motivate kids toward more positive behavior. Anyone can use this approach to motivate a change in behavior... smoking, drinking, eating too much, etc.

Basically, if I keep my goals for the day I earn marbles... if I blow it in a small way (one glass of wine too many) I don't get the marble.... If I blow it in a big way... (drink three bottles of wine) ... then I lose marbles. There is more to it than that... but once it's set up... it is a simple way of motivating and measuring specific goals. I need all the help I can get! Visual aids are good for me.

You can learn more by googling "The Marble Method". I discovered this while reading a book by Sunnie Bell, RN on how to lose weight using the marbles. Her book "Weight loss: How to use the Marble Method" can be found for sale on Amazon.com. Although you might want to try the public library first.

Any questions or comments are, of course, welcome.

And thank you all for your patience with my rambling thoughts as I've tried to figure out how get the hang of this goal setting stuff. I'm making progress!

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 81

Good job working through goal setting ~M - it's tough isn't it? Every time I read your posts I think "Wow, she's really articulate and really working hard to find what works for her". Very impressive! Dont' be hard on yourself - the fact you are trying to work through this is awesome. Hang in there!

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

Is two drinks or less per day... ridiculously lenient? I have cut my consumption almost in half from where I started. But it is inconsistent. I'm thinking two weeks of that and then two weeks of every other day... and then down to 3x a week, etc., etc.. Stepping down until I get to my long term goal of two or less per week. If I blow the short term goals then it's done. I have to admit that moderating isn't for me. As for rewards.... i have no idea... i guess one is that i get to keep drinking if i control it and have to stop if i don't. sounds a little lame.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11215

Hi ~m

I am so glad you found this helpful. This kind of work will really set the foundation for success!

You are off to a great start. To clarify your goal is to cut down to only 2 drinks (or less) per week by the end of 4 months. That is certainly a SMART goal Yay! So now for the smaller goal. What would you be comfortable with? What do you think you need to do in order to get there? Having a new goal each week or every other week would be a great start. Be sure to plan rewards too! I'm putting the ball back in your court - what's next?

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

by "quit altogether" ... I mean quit drinking.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

Still working on setting SMART goals or, more accurately, back at it. The example given of only having 2 drinks a week so freaked me out... I just got sort of paralyzed for awhile... then decided to give up the effort, but couldn't. So here is what I've come up with. I am totally unsure if this is how it should be set up and I am very open to tweaking this project anyway necessary until it works.

First the long term goal:

Specific - To control my drinking

Measurable - Have only 2 drinks (or less) per week

Attainable - I believe it is but have to work my way to that point with smaller goals

Resonant - This goal is important to me & I really do want to be able to control my alcohol intake

Timed stamped -I'm not sure.

This one is hard, it depends on how well I can set little goals toward achieving the big one. My inner addict is saying 1 year, but my wiser self is saying that's way to long. Compromise? Three months? Anxiety soaring! Six months? Anxiety level dropping... feeling relieved. From doing the anxiety exposure exercises I have learned that no anxiety means things will stay the same... for exposure (in this case, drinking less) to work there has to be some anxiety to learn how to cope. To change how I cope. So thinking about going six months before achieving this goal dropped anxiety level to almost nothing. So what about 4 months? Five. Five feels too comfortable yet. Heck I started out wanting one year to reach this goal! What do you want from me??? I want to stop drinking so much. FINE! fine. Four months...! Now my stomach hurts and I'm getting a headache. Happy? Well.... yeah, this Time Stamp resonates with me as attainable.

Now.... B R E A T H E...& .. B E L I E V E

I CAN achieve this goal.

I guess this is what is called self-talk...

I'm too tired now to address any short term goals

but, am I on the right track?

Bottom line for me is if I can't attain this goal in 4 months time... then I really need to just quit altogether. Am I giving myself too much leeway?

help.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 653

~m,

Resonant is new to me too. Good luck! Let us know if you need any help with this project! Once you get the hang of it, it's not tough and I think you will enjoy achieving your goals.

Tiana, Health Educator

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1022

This is brilliant Ashley... thank you for sharing it. I don't know how I missed it after reading the goal setting lessons over and over and over again. I knew something wasn't clicking. SMART goals. I like that. I like the two meanings for R too. Resonate somehow feels more important than realistic. Printing this out now... I think it will help because it is another tool to focus with. Who knew goal setting could be so tough? Or is it just me...? Maybe I was absent on the day that lesson was offered ...

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Short term v. long term