6-2 New year, new goal! For the past five years, I made the same promise to myself every spring: “I am going to get into shape”. Each year, I promised myself that I was going to lose weight and go down two dress sizes, so that I would look good (or at least normal) on the beach. However, it was the same story every year. Just two weeks after I’d made the resolution, I went back to my old bad habits. This year I decided to do things differently. I realized that my goal of dropping two dress sizes was unrealistic, and probably even unhealthy. When I examined my goal, I decided that it was too short-sighted to be meaningful. Why would I work so hard for just two weeks on the beach? When I thought about it, I realized it was more important to be healthy and strong than to look slim. Examining and changing my goal made a big difference. Instead of trying to lose weight, a friend and I decided we’d run a marathon in July. We planned our exercise schedule together, which was really motivating. We ate healthily, without worrying about our weight. Instead of obsessing about how we looked, we focused on our running performance. So, what happened? Not only did I manage to run the marathon, I also went down a dress size. What did I take away from this experience? What we think we need isn’t always what’s good for us. It pays to examine our goals. 59. What helped to motivate the writer to achieve her goal?