✨Stop Goal Setting: Create Your Menu for Success✨

Are you tired of setting goals you can’t stick to? In this episode, Lisa Hopkins introduces The Menu — a flexible, practical tool designed to set you up for success no matter how busy life gets.

Instead of rigid goals that often lead to guilt or frustration, The Menu offers bite-sized to main-course options you create for yourself. You’re the chef — and each day, the only “goal” is to choose something from your menu.

Discover how to build your own menu of mindfulness, energy, notions, and unwinding so you always have achievable, conscious choices at your fingertips. From a one-minute breathing exercise to a full creative project, The Menu helps you stay consistent, motivated, and guilt-free.

✨ Stop struggling with traditional goal setting. Start choosing from The Menu.

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Chapters

• 0:48 Introducing The Menu Method
• 2:05 Breaking Down the MENU Acronym
• 7:41 How to Structure Your Menu
• 11:31 Creating Energy and Notions Categories
• 15:44 Conscious Unwinding vs Default Behaviors
• 18:42 Try the Menu and Share Results

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:25

Hey there, today I'm bringing back one of the most practical tools I've ever shared on the podcast. It's called the menu. I created this as a simple way to set yourself up for success, no matter how busy life gets. It evolved out of my coaching practice. I work with a lot of very busy people and I discovered that, instead of rigid goals that can leave us feeling like we failed, the menu offers bite-sized to main course choices that you design yourself. The only rule is to choose something from your menu every day. It's flexible, it's doable and it keeps you moving forward without the guilt.

Speaker 1: 1:12

This replay is the original episode where I first introduced the menu. I hope you'll find it useful and maybe even start creating a menu of your own. Enjoy, hear about it, but I just want to introduce it here today. It's called the Menu, so this concept kind of developed during my coaching sessions. I started talking to my clients about goals and guilt and guilt around not doing goals and so on and so forth, and somehow out of that, this evolved. So the idea is that you have a menu, something that you create. All the items on the menu are yours, you are the chef and the goal here is simply each day to choose something from your menu. That's it. Now I'm going to break down what the items might be on your menu, but what this does is it takes off the pressure of whether you did or did not do something that might be a bigger goal, like going to the gym five days a week, or, you know, reading two books or you know whatever it might be writing a song or finishing this or that. Okay, so you may or may not want a pen and paper for this. Also, if you reach out to me, I'm happy to send you a template. So the MENU stands for Mindfulness, energy Notions and Unwinding. I'll say it one more time so you can write it down the menu is an acronym for mindfulness, energy notions and unwinding. It's all about choice, you guys, conscious choice. So mindfulness will include activities that help you ground yourself, reflect and connect with the present moment. These can be anything you want, and I'm going to talk to you about how we break it down in a moment. So again, mindfulness includes activities that help you ground yourself, reflect, connect with the present moment. All right, the E in menu is for energy, and energy includes anything that gets your body moving and raises your physical energy levels that gets your body moving and raises your physical energy levels, all right, and we'll talk about all the ways and things that we can include on your energy category of the menu.

Speaker 1: 4:40

The N in menu, as I said, stands for notions, notions. So notions are anything that we're cultivating creativity and ideas, personal growth, professional projects, anything that encompasses, well, your creative self, and this is not relegated to actual creative acts. It can be, you can include those in there, but it can be thinking creatively, it could be expanding your mind. Learning fits into here, you know, taking new courses or trying new things, anything that really stimulates cultivating a creative mindset and ideas and newness right, okay. So that's notions.

Speaker 1: 5:38

So so far, we've got mindfulness, which are the activities that help you ground yourself, reflect and connect with the present moment. We've got energy, which is anything that gets your body moving and raises your physical energy levels, all right. Then we've got N is for notions, which is that creative space. Right, that space of creatively working through problems, of just, you know, giving yourself some time for personal growth and ideas, all right. And finally, we've got unwinding. So unwinding is all about anything that you find enjoyable, that you consciously choose to relax and decompress. Again, the important thing here is that these are enjoyable activities that you consciously choose, not that you default to, to relax and decompress. What comes to mind right away is watching your favorite program. Now, a lot of us default to that when we crash on the couch and just flip it on and start watching by default. Now, a lot of us default to that when we crash on the couch and just flip it on and start watching by default. Now, this is a great way to unwind, if it's conscious. So that may or may not be on your menu under the unwinding category, just as, I don't know, a glass of wine, or or a bubble bath, or whatever it might be, but whatever it is, it's important that each of these things, especially in the unwinding category, is conscious and not done by default. Okay.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Now here's the thing about a menu. Like in a restaurant, it's all about choice. Okay, what you choose is what you get. What's different about a restaurant right is that you are the chef. No longer will you ever feel like you're at a great restaurant and you're worried about ordering the right thing. Right, because you don't know, maybe you haven't tasted it, or you haven't experienced it, or maybe being at a restaurant and never ordering anything but the same thing, because you're nervous that it might be something different and that would be called a default right.

Speaker 1: 8:03

So in this, in our menu that we're creating, your menu that you're creating, you're going to have different. Like a regular menu, you're going to have starters or appetizers, if you like, a main course, a dessert and a snack Okay, in each category. So, for instance, for mindfulness, a starter might be a 10 minute meditation session or a short journaling session, maybe two or three prompts, maybe it's reading a chapter of a book or listening to a guided meditation. Whatever it is, it's up to you, but it's a, it's a starter. It's a small bite, right, it's a teaser. It's not going to take a lot of time.

Speaker 1: 8:54

So, in the mindfulness category, you can put whatever you want on your menu. Be sure to put several things, okay, so that you have choice, even more choice. Now, a main course in mindfulness might be a yoga class or a long mindful walk in nature. It might be. Well, you fill in the blanks, whatever it might be. But the main course is a little more substantial, right, like a main course is in a restaurant. So it's probably going to take a little bit more time, and then you've got dessert on your menu, right?

Speaker 1: 9:38

So in the mindfulness category of your menu, a dessert might be oh, I don't know an indulgent bath with bubbles, music, glass of wine, music, glass of wine. Okay, that was mine. It can be whatever you want, right? Might be a guided visualization or a gratitude practice, whatever you want. The sky is the limit. There are no rules here. Finally, you've got a snack, right.

Speaker 1: 10:10

Snacks are things that well like a snack that can be done quickly and really at any time. Okay, so you might get to the end of your day, and if your goal has been to choose something from your menu, particularly in the mindfulness category, and perhaps you haven't done anything yet, no worries, you might look at the snack section of your menu, which might include, in the mindfulness category, deep breathing for three minutes. No worries, it might be a roll down as you brush your teeth, it might be writing down a thought or a feeling in a journal, maybe it's just closing your eyes for a one minute body scan, or reading a page of an inspiring book. Whatever it might be, these snacks not going to take a long time, but they make it easy for achieving your goal, and so, as you're creating your own menu, you'll do the same thing with each category. We just did mindfulness together and again I encourage you to make it your own. Then you'll do the same thing with energy. You'll have a starter or an appetizer, you'll have a main course, you'll have a dessert and you'll have a snack. And again, I encourage you to have multiple choices within these categories.

Speaker 1: 11:28

And, as a reminder, energy is anything that gets your body moving or raises your physical energy levels, right. So what might fall into this are things like well, your starter might be 10 minutes of stretching or yoga, it might be a brisk walk around the block or going up and down the stairs in your building. It might be a light workout session. A main course in the energy category might be a full workout at the gym, right. Or taking a class or a home workout session. Maybe it's going on a hike or cycling for 30 minutes or an hour, maybe it's taking up a physical hobby or going to a dance class, right. These things, again, are more substantial, like main courses are, and you can choose. So, with that goal of going to the gym five days of the week, that's no longer the goal.

Speaker 1: 12:25

The goal is to choose something from your menu. So you may then decide to choose something from your energy menu each day, and it may very well be something from the main course, which might be a workout, in which case you might end up working out five days a week. But if you don't, well then guess what? You don't fail. You might have chosen a dessert instead because you were shorter on time, and a dessert might be a fun outdoor activity or a dance party with friends, trying something new like rock climbing or swimming. Desserts are flavorful, right and delicious. Or maybe you've had a busy day, like we so often do, and as you're coming to bed, you think about the menu and you think, oh yeah, I had a goal to choose one thing from my menu today, and if energy was in your goal set, then you might say well, I have time for a snack, because you always have time for a snack. So be sure on your menu to put something on here that is totally doable, right in a very short period of time. So a roll down or a quick stretch routine, a five minute yoga break, maybe walking up and downstairs for five minutes, whatever it is. Whatever it is, you've achieved your goal that day. Do you see how this works? So you'll go on and you'll do the same thing for notions, right, and I can take you through those.

Speaker 1: 13:57

A starter might be a short creative session, drafting a brief outline for a project or a new idea. Who knows a brainstorm? Maybe it's improvising or journaling, or maybe it's simply daydreaming. That might be a starter. It simply daydreaming? That might be a starter in your notion category. And again, the menu is yours to create. You are the chef.

Speaker 1: 14:19

A main course in the notion section might be a deep dive into a creative project. It might be participating in a creative workshop or a course, or taking painting or knitting or, who knows, maybe trying photography or something new. A dessert in the notion department? Well, that could be a fun outdoor activity or doing something with friends. Maybe it's trying a new recipe, trying something new. These are all creative endeavors. Thinking about something differently makes things twice as sweet. No-transcript. You might be listening to a little ping or writing yourself a note or a post-it and putting it up about something that you want to look into later. Also very doable, you guys.

Speaker 1: 15:21

Finally, on the unwind section of your menu, it's all about unwinding, right, and we all do it, but the key thing is, do we do it consciously or do we unwind by default? This is a really, really great area to work on in your practice. A starter, a conscious starter, if you're unwinding, might be journaling, getting your thoughts out, could even be singing. Maybe you're not a singer, but maybe singing in the shower is how you like to unwind. Maybe it's doing a craft or I don't know, collaging. It could be anything. It could be listening to music that calms you, or putting on cozy sweats, having a cup of tea, having a glass of wine whatever it is, it's important that it's conscious. Those are starters.

Speaker 1: 16:17

A main course might be who knows, taking again, taking a yoga class and you'll see some of these intermingle, right. Or doing a yoga stretch yourself. It might be calling your friend and walking around the lake, talking to her for an hour. That's what I do. Whatever it is, guys, it's yours to create. A dessert might be a fun outdoor activity, right, it might be going out to look at the stars. It might be a stroll after dinner, unwinding as a snack. Well, that could be anything, guys. That could just be a shoulder roll. It could be a deep breath. It could literally be smiling and thinking about all that you accomplished that day. You might be playing the top three things game that I love so much and just thinking about gratitude for three things that you're grateful for from that day.

Speaker 1: 17:23

So, guys, this is just a quick kind of walkthrough of what my menu is, and I encourage you to start playing around with it. I've got other aspects of how you can incorporate it into your life, which I'll talk to you guys about in a future episode. Please, please, reach out to me and let me know. Let me know how this resonates with you and share it with somebody else, if you think somebody would benefit from this idea of not setting yourself up with daunting goals and only setting yourself up with the goal of choosing something that you created from your menu, some more ambitious than others, all of them completely doable, depending on what you choose and your context. I can't wait to hear what you think about this, guys. I'm rolling it out and I want you to try it, so let me know. Let me know what your experience is. Hashtag the menu. Lots of love. I'm Lisa Hopkins. Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and remember to live in the moment.