Setbacks are inevitable, here’s your brain’s survival guide to get motivated again

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Setbacks are inevitable, here’s your brain’s survival guide to get motivated again

By Nora Tobin

As we fly through Q1, the 2023 list of resolutions and new goals may be in the rearview mirror at this point. If you are like me, you have created a broad spectrum of objectives as it relates to professional goals. For me, it was everything from expanding my Nora’s Naturals offerings globally to a tech fire wall before 7 a.m. daily.??

I was set out to consume less wine and more water. Let’s just say February got the best of me.?

While goals always seem reasonable when writing them down, it is easy for life to take over and let the list fall by the wayside. For me personally, I found it frustrating to fall short of any sought after goal, even by an inch. The first move I used to make was to beat myself up, then double down on the loss. Instead of simply acknowledging that I didn’t quite hit the target this time and try again bright and early on Monday morning, I would focus on the letdown, giving up on the goal all together. The mind is a powerful tool, with the ability to propel or deplete us.?

To support the lineup of accomplishments you are about to make in 2023, and to avoid the setbacks whenever we fall short, I would like to share the powerful performance strategies that specifically shift neural pathways in the brain. Rather than halting our goals if we miss the mark, we can set a strategy for optimal outcomes.?

To start, it can be very helpful to create a plan for action that is propelled by impactful levels of motivation. After all, we are dynamic individuals who ultimately thrive off of deeper stages of meaning. If our professional goals are not identified with a level of purpose, we may never reach them. Not from a lack of trying, but simply from a minimized level of importance registered in the brain.?

START WITH THE WHY

Determine what it is about the goal that drives behavior.?The daily steps to meet the goal become crystallized when we feel and understand the purpose behind it.?

Take 10-minutes to perform the exercise at the same time each week for the next four weeks straight. Since our workweek is dynamic, goals and projected outcomes can shift. It is valuable to keep coming back to the foundational purpose behind the goal itself.?

1. Write down a statement rooted in the present rather than the future. Simply by shifting the messaging to the present moment, the brain registers the goal differently. Example: I am the partner in my law firm with a salary of x number of dollars. While that may be a long-term goal, you are activating neurons in the brain to perceive it as happening.?
2. Take the broad present statement, and write three bullet points with specific reasons why this goal is important to meet. Stay in the present tense. The more specific and personal the better. Example: As a partner in my law firm, the part of my personality that is fueled by leading others is being met. My happiness level is consistent because I feel a purpose in my work, and I am able to use my years of education to expand other’s careers.?
3. Come back to the same statement each week. Write three new bullet points. These may be similar to the week before or new, based on how you feel. There’s no right or wrong, as long as you describe your why.?

COMMIT TO CONSISTENCY?

Goal setting is one of the ways to enhance the brain’s neuroplasticity. We have neural synapses firing at all times, creating memories and imprinting new information. The process of setting goals is a way to propel a growth mindset, activating the prefrontal cortex in the brain to focus on top priorities and recognize the benefits of change.?

A study of multiple sclerosis patients at the University of Texas found that patients who set ambitious wellness goals had fewer, less severe symptoms than a control group. The activity in their prefrontal cortex went up, and fear centers in the brain slowed. In effect, goal-setting actually helped improve their brains.?

CREATE AN ACTION PLAN

Similar to the commitment to our virtual meetings, having a specific schedule reflected in the calendar when you will perform the goal setting exercise is an important step in reaching goals. As soon as we receive a meeting invite, the time is typically blocked in the calendar. Treat your goal setting exercise in the exact same way. Plan a consistent time every day that you protect. It can be incredibly beneficial to have the same window of time each week to build the foundational habit.?

SHIFT YOUR MINDSET

Instead of going through the cycles of disappointment when goals are not being met as fast as we expect, integrate a few simple strategies to gently shift mindset:?

Observe negative thoughts:?Attention to the body in the midst of stressful or disappointing experiences. Taking a moment to simply notice the breath and any discomfort felt. The body is a sophisticated system and can easily tell us when it is time to calm itself. In most circumstances that are stressful, we can feel the tension in our stomach or chest. By simply observing where this tension shows up, we can create a sense of ease by shifting from shallow breathing in the chest to slow expansive breaths in the belly.?Take one minute—inhale for 3,2,1, exhale for 5,4,3,2,1-—inhaling through the nose, feel the belly expand with breath, exhaling through the nose release. Perform for five rounds.?

Neutralize negative thoughts:?Allows for discernment, recognizing a thought or feeling is just mental activity, not our identity. It can be very easy to attach emphasis to specific emotions felt throughout the day. This can be an exhaustive process as there are such an array of emotions we will experience. By doing our best to apply objectivity to strong emotions, we have the ability to create that space between the feeling and how it is expressed. We can notice the emotions as if they were clouds passing in the sky, acknowledging that they are there, and then let them go.?

LIMIT THE NUMBER OF GOALS?

I went back through my long list of goals and determined which ones were the most important to hit this year. It was a hard task, because I wanted to reach all of them. The fierce prioritization has been proven to have a great impact on the brain.??

The prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain that requires optimal conditions for processing and is responsible for complex problem solving and learning new things—is also the part that tracks the value of actions. This means that when we set goals, our brains are evaluating the importance of each goal before and during goal-directed behaviors to determine which ones take priority. When faced with multiple goals, the one with higher value will be prioritized.

BE AMBITIOUS?

It is natural to set goals we know we are going to reach. One way to challenge ourselves is to stretch outside our comfort zone.

Set a daily goal to block time for high level vs. low level tasks. We have a number of tasks on any given day. Some take much greater concentration than others. It can be valuable for productivity to make a list of the daily tasks and organize them into two categories: high level and low level. This does not mean more or less important, rather simply a system for optimizing time and concentration. I find the mornings are when I am most focused, so that is when I perform my high level tasks. I typically wait until later in the morning to write and respond to emails. You can break it up in any way that works best for you.

You are a top performer. Everything you’ve done up to this point has driven a magnitude of success. These strategies will simply accelerate what you’re already doing well.?

Nora Tobin is the health and wellness partner to United Airlines, Marriott International, and EY. She is the CEO of?Nora’s Naturals , specializing in sustainable coffee, performance elixirs, and superfood snacks.?

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