We are a full 8 days now into 2017! Did you set some New Years’ resolutions? In what areas of your life? How’s it going so far?
For me, I know that when I set a goal in any area of my life, I must identify action steps I can make to take me to my goal. Not only that, but I must have something I can do RIGHT NOW to move me closer to it so I can start gaining momentum and get into a habit flow and feel like a winner towards it every day.
With these things in mind, I wanted to share 4 simple steps to goal achievement. I’m doing this all the time with my clients with their health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness goals:
- SET A GOAL. Sounds simple, right? To be more detailed here, let me break this step down into a series of questions:
- Do you have a defined/quantifiable goal? (For example, instead of saying, “I want to lose weight,” say, “I want to lose 10 pounds.”
- Do you have a date set for the achievement of this goal? (For example, “I want to lose 15 pounds by March 31.”
- Is this a realistic goal? Have you done research on what is realistic? Do you have a good, realistic (not overly optimistic nor negative either) grasp on what you’re capable of?
- Do you BELIEVE you can do it? Do you feel capable? Do you feel equipped?
- CRAFT A PLAN. Now that you have a definite, realistic goal and date set for accomplishing it, it’s time to reverse-engineer a game plan for achievement.
- Work backwards. In the above example, let’s say that 15 pounds is a good goal for March 31. So, by February 28, let’s aim for 10 pounds lost, and January 31, 5 pounds. Break it down so you have “wins” along the way.
- What do you need to do to accomplish this? Do you need to tweak your eating habits? Your activity/exercise level, frequency, and type? What are you going to do? What works best for you?
- MAKE A SCHEDULE. You’ve got the goal. You’ve got the plan. Now it’s time to ensure you make the time for it.
- Use a calendar – either digital or paper, find what works for you – and schedule your exercise/workouts, when you will prepare the foods you plan to eat, how much rest you will get, and any other things you feel you need to schedule.
- START RIGHT NOW! – The best time to begin working towards your new goals is precisely when you set them, so do something right now that will help you to succeed!
aubreyeicher 