When you are exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, or burned out, it feels impossible to achieve traditional goals.
For this tough season of life, you need gentle goals that help you survive these days without crashing down.
Small, doable goals that give you a tiny bit of control over your life. This is important so that you don’t descend into chaos.
These simple goals don’t fix your life overnight.
But they help you get through bad days without losing yourself completely. These goals will prevent your life from coming to a standstill.
On days you can barely survive, these goals will help you stay afloat without drowning in despair.
1. Goals to Protect Your Energy
You don’t need a one-hour morning routine or a 10 step skincare routine when you are drowning in despair.
It doesn’t mean that you don’t do anything either. It will just make things worse.
What to do instead?
Create a bare minimum routine.
A simple list of 3 things you do in a day so that you have some control over your life.
It will stop your mind from spiraling.
What to include in the list?
- Something that grounds you (4-7-8 breathing technique, stand barefoot for 1 minute)
- Something that moves you (2 minutes stretching, 5 minutes walking)
- Something that soothes your mind (name the emotion, listen to one calming song)
Sounds simple and insignificant.
The truth is your energy is limited on survival days. Spend it intentionally.
But on survival days even this counts.
2. Goals to Calm Your Mind
It feels like your mind is on fire when you are struggling to deal with bad mood, stress, or anxiety.
If you try to become productive or achieve your goals before calming your mind, it’s going to be a disaster.
First things first. Calm your mind.
So that you can do the things that matter to you.
Pick any one from this:
- 4-7-8 breathing technique (my favorite)
- Relaxation techniques
- A shower
- Sitting in silence and enjoying tea
Regulating your nervous system is very important.
These simple things will help you to be calm and relaxed.
3. Goals to Reduce Pressure
On days when you are pushing yourself to survive, thoughts scattered all over, trying to give 100% to a task feels like moving mountains. It might be possible to do it on days when you are doing fine.
Thinking you have to give your best to do anything will immediately stop you from doing it.
So reduce the pressure.
Shorten every task to 25%.
- Need to cook? Make something simple like a sandwich or smoothie.
- Need to clean? Only clean one shelf of the cupboard.
- Need to work? Focus on one tiny step, not the entire project.
The resistance to do something reduces drastically when you try to do the simplest version of it.
Don’t try to give your 100% or do anything perfectly.
When you are low on energy, do things accordingly.
4. Goals to Create Relief
You might have noticed that on days when you are not doing good, it’s the small things that set you off.
The tiny things are the small sparks that explode your overactive nervous system.
You could:
- Unfollow draining accounts
- Mute notifications
- Stop responding to messages immediately
- Declutter a small space
- Reduce screen time by 15 minutes
Sometimes the best thing to do is remove rather than add things.
5. Goals to Build Emotional Strength
You cannot process everything that is going on during dark days.
But not attending to your emotions will do more damage.
So, all you are going to do is name the emotion you are feeling.
Say it like this:
- I am feeling sad.
- This is frustration.
- I am angry.
Naming the emotion reduces the intensity.
Now that you have named it, your brain can understand it properly. This itself gives instant relief and stops your mind from plunging into chaos.
6. Goals to Reconnect With Yourself
On crappy days, when you are barely staying afloat, you will remember those days when you enjoyed life to the fullest. When you found joy doing things that you loved.
You miss yourself.
This is painful.
You want to do things that matter to you but you just can’t. No energy, bad mood — it makes starting feel impossible.
The mistake you are making here is trying to do things that you enjoyed for the same duration or intensity as before. The reason you cannot do this is that there is no energy in your reservoir.
Doesn’t mean you avoid it.
Don’t do it for 1 hour or 30 minutes.
Just two minutes. That’s it.
2 minutes only:
- Read one page.
- Journal one sentence.
- Doodle half a page.
You are rebuilding connection with yourself.
So be slow, gentle, and patient with yourself.
7. Goal to Stop the Spiral
Burnout makes you angry, irritated, sensitive, snappy. You become like a bomb that can explode any moment.
This isn’t good for you or the people around you.
You will end up hurting others unintentionally.
How to stop the spiral?
Before reacting to anything:
- Pause for 2 seconds
- Take a deep breath consciously
- Respond, don’t react
Sounds simple. Making it a goal will make it feel serious.
This will help protect your peace and save your relationships.
8. Goals to Maintain Hope
Do you have a dream? A long-term goal?
Working on them when you are in survival mode seems impossible.
Because you are tired right now doesn’t mean your dreams are dead.
Your dreams might be barely alive, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be revived.
Do one tiny action to keep your dream alive:
- Write one sentence
- Read one article
- Research something for 5 minutes
- Attend an online class for 10 minutes
All these small things add up.
Taking tiny steps doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing enough.
This is so much better than abandoning your goals and dreams.
9. Goals to Heal
Rest is not earned. It is not a reward.
You rest first and work later. Rest is maintenance.
Make a daily rest goal.
It could be:
- 10 minutes of doing nothing
- Taking a 5-minute break between tasks
- Napping in between
- Avoid rushing back to doing work
Rest will help you gain energy. It will help replenish your mind, soul, and body.
Conclusion
These seemingly insignificant, teeny tiny goals that take less than 5 to 10 minutes are the ones that are going to help you survive the tough days.
Eventually, these will help you get out of survival mode and live your life rather than just exist.
On low energy days, work with your energy levels.
Don’t fight against it by trying to do many things or for long durations.
These goals will help you regain momentum and get you started.
Everything will be okay.
You might also like:
➡️7 Powerful Mindsets That Will Change Your Life
➡️9 Simple Techniques to Calm Your Mind for Chaotic Life Seasons
➡️10 Powerful Life Lessons I Learned Through Tough Seasons
➡️How to Discover Your Personal Values and Principles
➡️How to Create a Clear, Honest Life Vision in 4 Simple Steps
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