HOWEVER, I believe it’s quite different when you’re losing pregnancy weight. You not only lose weight when you deliver the baby but you can also lose quite a lot of weight naturally just by breast feeding. Many women find it hard to lose weight when they’ve just had a baby because they’re tired, their fitness may be down especially if they had to restrict activity during pregnancy, hormones might make them feel hungry. But it’s also quite common and normal to lose a lot of weight from breast feeding if you are not eating huge portions and you are exercising. It’s important to make sure that you get enough nutrients to produce healthy breast milk and get enough energy, but you don’t actually need to “eat for two”.

Disclaimer: I am not speaking from actual experience and I wouldn’t presume to say that it’s an easy thing to do, or imply that women should feel compelled to lose weight immediately after having a baby. I’m just saying that medically, losing 40lb in two months after having a baby is not the same as losing 40lb in two months in normal life. It’s not your body’s natural weight so weight loss can be quickened simply by your body returning to its normal state, as well as the diet and exercise.

On personal finance-related goals, especially cash flow control for new or would-be entrepreneurs: Adopt the intensely annoying habit beloved by corp purchasing departments of delaying and delaying spending approval!
Translated - before ANY purchasing decision, at least sleep on it.

It is helpful to understand the small number of truly critical behaviors that drive success in your goal. Most people don’t understand these critical behaviors and therefore struggle to miss goals. For example, in a study of weight loss efforts across a broad group of people, several critical behaviors emerged that were highly correlated with success:

1.) people who hit their weight loss goals weighed themselves daily
2.) people who hit their goal thought about and planned their eating before they sat down to the table…ie, they framed up their diet choices before being presented with the menu, so they were less likely to make poor decisions. So before every eating opportunity, they stopped and thought about what they should eat.
3.) There was one more critical behavior that I can’t recall

If you spend more time deeply thinking about what the critical behaviors are that drive success, and then focus most of your efforts on those behaviors, you are most likely to hit your goals.

So in Penelope’s example of improving her marriage, perhaps the critical behavior is literally unplugging the computer at 8 pm every night. If she does this behavior consistently (literally unplugging the computer) she won’t check email. This is not likely the critical behavior that will improve her marriage, but it will certainly solve the email at night problem.

I highly recommend the new book Influencer, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, and Ron McMillan. I have no affiliation to the book, other than it was one of the best books I’ve read in 2007 (and I read a lot of books).

Jason

Living in a state of “Crisis Management” is easier in many ways than setting goals. The crisis or situation determines what is most important.

For example, setting aside money every week for the house payment is a choice. Franticly scrambling to scrape together enough money for the payment the day the payment is due is a necessity.

Also, there can be greater rewards being the hero who solves the crisis than of the one who by steady and consistent discipline avoids crisis.