When you are in the process, working toward a goal that’s all you think about. You feel the day will never come when you will have reached the end, achieved the thing, crossed the finish line. Until you do. And then it’s over. The thing that you dreamed of completing and of which consumed so much of your time – mentally and physically doesn’t exist anymore. And you are left with a weird feeling that has you asking yourself Now What? What’s Next?

Cool your jets my friend. There can certainly be a moment of “let down” after reaching a goal. You’ve been climbing this mountain for so long and at the top, the pinnacle, all there is a drop on the other side. I encourage you to look back to the days of the grind and take a tick. Reaching a goal was a big deal and you need to complete some necessary action items before you move on. Let’s talk about these things.

Celebrate Your Achievement Before You Ask What’s Next

We are all so keen to just keep marching on to the next thing that we hardly ever give ourselves time to properly celebrate reaching a desired goal. We turn reaching that goal into the first step in our next goal. We never stop to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. And heaven forbid we say out loud how proud we are of ourselves for staying the course to see this thing through.

When we get to the end, we instantly have trouble remembering the struggle, the hard days, the time we had to drag ourselves through the motions and then we undersell the importance of what we’ve achieved. If you need to, read back through your logs, journal, trackers if you keep one to remind yourself of the things that you had to overcome to get where you are.

Next: Reflect On The Journey

What did you do in your approach that you would do again? What would you change? What worked? What didn’t? Did you enjoy yourself and would you do it again? And if not, why not. Before you can move on, you’ve got to put this thing to bed. You need to get all of the mileage out of it you can, because you have invested so much of yourself in it.

Take some time and reflect on the experience. What did you learn about yourself? I think that if you take the time you need to reflect that you will find out how much the experience helped you grow, how it may have even changed you, how it worked to build some much needed confidence.

Rest Your Mind & Body

Going full tilt toward a goal can be very taxing mentally and/or physically. Your focus is honed in achieving this thing. You are at a heightened state for large periods of time. But you can’t sustain that. When you have completed your goal it is imperative for you to give your mind and/or body a rest. You need to bring your stress levels down and bathe in the serotonin of happiness and content.

It doesn’t have to be for weeks, but give yourself several days to a week to shut off. Distract yourself with other things. Read a book for pleasure. Do some stretching sessions. Watch some crap tv. Do something for fun just because you can. Recharging your mind and body will prepare you to take on the new thing, so make sure that break is scheduled in.

Now, What’s Next?

Once you have celebrated, reflected, and rested, only then is it time to start thinking about what is next. Maybe it will be more of the same. Maybe it will be something different. But whatever it is, you’ll be ready to take it on and grateful that you have appreciated what you have just accomplished.

Read how ALL GOALS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL.