Your health goals might be getting in your way.
Permission to fail and how to fail forward.
I want to talk about health goals.
Not in the “set SMART goals and track your macros” kind of way. I mean the real kind. The ones we make when we say, “This time I’m really going to do it. I’m going to feel better. I’m going to take care of myself. I’m going to get healthy.”
Those goals are beautiful. Hopeful. Energizing! But they can also be a trap.
I learned this the hard way when I used to run races. I’d set these ambitious pace goals, trying to hit a certain number of minutes per mile. I’d tell myself, “If I don’t stay on pace, I’m failing.” So, what do you think happened when I looked at my watch halfway through and saw I was behind? Instant discouragement.
It didn’t matter that I felt strong or that my body was doing its best. The numbers weren’t lining up, so my brain threw a pity party mid-race. But here’s the crazy thing: something would kick in when I hit the final stretch. I’d push hard, fly through the finish, and sometimes—honestly—I’d actually win. That taught me something big.
I wasn’t failing just because the micro-goals weren’t being met. In fact, those little goals had become a distraction. They weren’t always helpful. Sometimes they were the thing getting in my way.
The truth is, we’re not robots. We’re humans with sleep cycles, hormones, cravings, moods, aging knees, and unexpected life events. We zig. We zag. And yet somehow, over time, we move forward.
But when we judge ourselves by hyper-specific benchmarks—“I need to lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks,” “I’ll run every day,” “I’ll never eat sugar again”—we miss the bigger picture. And worse, we start to feel like we’re failing just because the timeline got messy.
That’s where I think the planning fallacy sneaks in. Psychologists coined that term to describe how we chronically underestimate how long things will take or how hard they’ll be. In health, it shows up when we think, “I’ll just stick to this plan and feel amazing in no time.” And then, when we don’t, we start questioning ourselves instead of the plan.
I’ve come to believe that plans are helpful, but only if we hold them loosely. The reason why is that health isn’t linear. It’s not a checklist or a tidy five-step program. It’s more like jazz. Or gardening. Or hiking a trail you’ve never been on before. You’re going to get lost. You’re going to take a detour. And you’re going to learn things that weren’t on the map. You’re going to run into obstacles you never could have planned for, like hail or a strange new tomato-killing insect that only shows up every 10 years.
And that’s not just okay, that’s life, and it’s actually the point.
When I work with clients, I don’t just help them make a plan. I help them think differently. I help them tune into their bodies, get curious about what’s working, and adjust with compassion. We don’t judge the journey based on a single week. We zoom out. We look at the trajectory, not the turbulence.
You might’ve heard me talk about Kaizen, or read about this method in my book Health Shift. It’s a beautiful idea of small, continuous improvements. It’s not glamorous, but it works because you’re not relying on strictly motivation; you’re building something sturdier. Something rooted in who you’re becoming.
And if you’re wondering, “Well, should I set goals at all?”—yes, absolutely. But let them be flexible. Let them shift as you grow. Let them serve you, not the other way around.
Sometimes the goal is simply feeling better in your body. Sometimes it’s making one slightly better choice today than yesterday. Sometimes it’s just sticking with the process long enough to figure out what actually works for you.
Because that’s what success really looks like: not a perfect plan followed without fail, but a person who keeps showing up, learning, and moving toward better.
So if today didn’t go as planned, I’m here to tell you that’s okay. You’re not off-track. You’re in progress. And friend, progress is a pretty fantastic place to be.
If this hits home, I’d love to hear your next gentle step forward — please share!
Dr. Alice
A little more about Dr. Alice Burron and Strategic Action Health:
Dr. Burron is a co-founder of Strategic Action Health, dedicated to helping organizations help their employees make better health decisions. Come check us out here!
Catch us on Instagram: @the.health.navigator and @dr_burron
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Buy the book Health Shift here.
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