Where are you right now?
Not your physical location..
I mean in terms of any goals you might have had last year. Did you achieve them? Or are you getting closer to achieving them?
Or do you find yourself kind of in the same position you were last year? Maybe even the year before, too..
I know I’ve been there. Which is why I wanna help you, yes, you, avoid this mistake and conquer whatever goals you may have.
So, let’s dive right into goal setting for the new year!
First, let’s try to get more specific with our goals..
GENERAL VS SPECIFIC GOALS
One reason why you might fall short on your goals is because they might be too broad or general to really give you any plan of action. Examples of general goals are things like:
- Lose weight
- Get healthier
- Sleep better
- Get stronger
These goals are great, but what’s missing is the how-to.
The how-to comes in when you break down general goals into more specific goals. This just means figuring out the various behaviors and habits that are required to actually achieve the goal.
Once you figure that out, the goal then becomes implementing those behaviors and habits on a consistent basis. Boom
For example, get healthier can become:
- Eat more fruits and veggies, limit or avoid alcohol and junk food, get more daily movement or exercise in, eat a damn salad, etc.
Sleep better can become:
- Avoiding bright screens a few hours before bed, dimming the room, avoiding eating or drinking a lot before bed, getting morning sunlight, etc.
GOALS THAT MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU
Setting goals to keep up with the latest fad, pressure from others, or because you think you might impress someone, usually won’t turn out in your favor. That’s because goals that are influenced by these factors usually don’t hold a lot of value.
Goals having value just means that whatever goal you might have means something personal to you that goes beyond some kind of external validation.
For example, instead of wanting to lose weight just to ‘look better’, you could focus on losing weight to also feel better, move better, live longer, build more confidence, etc.
Instead of changing your eating habits because some diet is ‘popular’, you could focus on changing your eating habits based on your own personal health goals, nutritional preferences or requirements, or because you have certain moral values that you want to align your eating habits with.
In any case, when your goals are valuable to you, you’re more likely to stay on the path towards achieving them rather than becoming disinterested and giving up.
GOALS CAN TAKE TIME
With the New Year being so synonymous with setting goals, sometimes a sort of illusion can build that makes it seem as though one year is all that matters when it comes to goals.
The thing is, some goals might take years to achieve. Meaning, if you’ve been working towards something for months and months and haven’t yet achieved it, or maybe you fell off the wagon, that doesn’t mean that when the end of the year approaches you just give up on the goal entirely and “start over” next year.
Each year can take you closer and closer to actually achieving your goal, as long as you’re consistent enough. That doesn’t mean perfectly consistent all the time. But in the span of a whole year, you’d want to be more consistent than not.
Making sure you’re at least ahead of where you were last year and not stuck in the same spot is a great way to measure this, and is also a great goal in itself to aim for.
AVOID TAKING ON TOO MUCH AT ONCE
You might have 10 different goals, or you might have one goal of, say, improving your fitness, but in 10 different areas (you wanna be leaner, have a stronger benchpress, be able to run a faster mile, fight ninjas, etc).
It’s definitely possible to juggle a few goals at once, but if you really want to get the most out of a particular goal, it’s probably best to spend a good amount of time and energy on that particular goal, while everything else kind of takes a back seat.
Taking on too much at once can not only withhold a degree of energy and focus from each individual goal, but it can also potentially lead you to feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
Try to focus on one or two goals for a few months, or maybe years depending on the goal(s), in order to dominate those mfs, then move on to the next set of goals to dominate.
Imagine the shit you could achieve in a 5-10 year span. Start now.
RECORD, TRACK, JOURNAL
Writing down your goals and tracking your progress is a great way to keep your goals alive. It can also help keep you motivated, especially when you make more and more progress and can look back at where you started.
MAKE CHALLENGES AROUND YOUR GOALS
Everyone loves a good challenge. A great way to implement the various behaviors and habits required to help you achieve your goals is to make challenges out of them.
Some examples:
Exercise challenges:
- See how many steps you can get in a day
- Do a certain number of pushups each day
- Exercise for at least 30 mins per day
- Challenge yourself to hit the gym consistently for at least 1 – 3 months
Eating healthier challenges:
- Get at least 30g of fiber each day
- Eat 2-3 pieces of fruit per day
- Have at least 1 salad per day
TO-DO LISTS
Daily or weekly to-do lists can also be helpful for keeping you on track and staying accountable. Similar to tracking/journaling, it can help to write things down!
Thanks for reading!
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Also, if any of your goals this year involve improving your health and fitness in any way, I’d love to work with you! Check out my online coaching page for more info! Link below!