So as May draws to end and we say goodbye to National Walking month for another year, I think it’s only fair to tell you that we failed in our efforts to virtually walk all of Route 66. We arrived as planned in Oklahoma, and then set off for our next stop Dallas, Texas but we as the week came to a close, we failed to arrive. Our mileage fell short, and so with only a few days left in May we have to accept that even with a herculean effort we won’t complete the journey by the 31st. We failed. I can give you excuses, such as the weather was atrocious, it was, but the honest truth is we simply didn’t walk enough steps.
So, what now?
We carry on, we keep walking until we complete the pre-requisite number of miles to achieve our end goal, it may take us a few more weeks than planned but we have come so far, and none of us want to give up.
Here’s the thing about failing, it provides an opportunity to learn. When you fall, you need to have the mental resilience to get up again and keep going. You need to understand why you failed and then you can avoid making the same mistake again. For us, our goal was unrealistic, we overestimated how many miles we would walk, we didn’t allow for our other commitments, work, family life. And that’s the takeaway – set realistic goals. Not goals so easy that they are meaningless but ones that are realistic. Like cutting down on the alcohol we drink, the amount of weight we want to lose, how much physical activity we will do or when we will stop smoking. If we are realistic and set achievable goals we can all enjoy success and if we stumble we need to dust ourselves off and carry on.
If your goal is to stop smoking, move more, eat well, drink less then give us a call and we will help you.
Learning to fail along Route 66