Special Operations families are often resilient and gritty. We keep going, even when things are incredibly difficult. Often motivated by challenges, which are abundant in our lives, our families buckle down for the things we believe matter. This can feel exhausting especially when deployments keep repeating, or your family’s needs are high. If your mindset becomes just “get through it” or “don’t quit,” the challenges can become exhausting, and this can take sneaky toll on stress management. These same gritty and determined characteristics can energize when you connect your values with something you aspire to achieve.

We all make resolutions, set new goals … lose weight, drink more water, exercise more, or stop wasting time. These goals are often associated with something we don’t love about some aspect of our life or ourself. Several weeks pass by and the gym parking lot thins out, facebook profiles reactivate, and sodas reappear in the fridge. When we come at a goal from a place of negativity or trying to prevent something we fear or dislike, good momentum is hard to maintain and our confidence diminishes. So often, we inevitably stumble, lose motivation and feel defeated when we stumble away from success. We see each misstep and focus on our weaknesses instead of our growth and what we value.

To keep goals meaningful, focus on what is possible and why it is important to you. Reframe your goal in terms of how your life will be better and take small steps toward it. Those small steps are motivating and essential to all challenging goals.