Every summer starts off with people talking about how they are going to be changing themselves. They either want to lose weight, pick up a new hobby or one of the other seemingly hundred things everyone seems to want.
Now every goal you make for the summer is a good one, but they are all unnecessary because let's be honest, how many of us actually stick to them? I know personally that if I make a "summer" goal, chances are it will turn into a New Years resolution because I'm not completing it for the summer no matter how hard I try!
So what can you do this summer to become a better you without making a goal? Most people would probably say nothing; how do you plan to stay motivated without one?
Well, you need to get lost in something. Whether that something is a book, starting a garden, trying new cooking recipes or picking up a language; all you need to do is love it.
The main point is you can't make an actual goal for this thing. Remember when I said love it? Well if you need to make a goal and set out specific time to engage in this activity just to force yourself to do it, you don't really love it that much, do you?
Pick something that comes easily to you. Maybe it is something that you already do a couple times a week and don't even realize it.
Now getting "lost" in this activity is nothing more than delving deeper and teaching yourself more about it. Try new aspects of your favorite thing so that you can love it even more. For example, if you love baking, try recipes you normally wouldn't because of their difficulty. If you are into sports, create a league with some friends and play together more often.
I myself just started doing something new. Every day, whenever I have time, I do pilates. This started out being an actual goal for me, but last year I realized I was doing it because I wanted to and the day didn't feel right if I didn't have the time to fit in at least 30 minutes. When I was thinking about what my summer "goal" would be, I told myself I was going to try harder workouts.
Unfortunately, it was me telling myself that I was going to do extra workouts that caused me to fail. One day, when I was feeling motivated enough I turned on an hour-long kickboxing workout routine and had an extremely fun time beating up invisible people near me (even though I know I looked ridiculous).
So really, the whole point is that when we tell ourselves we are going to start something new, it seems like a challenge. We all have good days and bad days but you need to take advantage of the good ones and do things that you know you won't get yourself motivated enough to do at your low points in life.
If you can make yourself love something when you are feeling good, chances are you will be able to use the same activity make yourself feel better when you are down.