Goal Setting For Success
Are you already finished with the whole new year, new you chat?! Are you looking for meaningful goals that will lead to a happier life?
Every January all you see is “New year, new me”.
But so many people fail to achieve what they set out to.
What if you finally nailed down your goal setting process and could finally move towards your desired results?
January always seems like a great time to set grand new goals due it being a clean slate of a year but in truth this can be put into process in any month, hence why we are putting this out there in February.
Your goals should be broken down to weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually so you can review your progress.
Goal setting is defined as setting a target or an objective that you would like to achieve.
Be SMART.
You may have heard the buzz word of SMART goals, but what exactly are they?
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time scale.
To make your SMART goal even better, you can delve into how you are going to get to your goal, why it matters and how long until you get there.
But the part everyone misses, what are you willing to do to reach that goal?
Everyone can sit down and write their SMART goal to become a millionaire, get an incredible body or complete a marathon. But are you willing to do what is required for each goal?
There are trade offs to achieve goals. The bigger the goal, the bigger the trade off.
The reason most people fail is they are not willing to sacrifice what is needed and to do the work required to hit that target.
Some other issues people have is they set their goal and then no plan on how to achieve that, their plan doesn’t allow success and they give up due to not feeling like they’re getting anywhere or they are fully focused on the end goal.
To successfully achieve your goals in this coming year it is all about systems and habits.
Goals are great for setting the direction you want to go in but systems and habits ensure you keep moving forward after the excitement & focus from the new goal drifts or fades.
Below are some tips on how to successfully set goals and how to actually make them happen.
Big Rock Focus
The big rocks are your large desirable goals, the stones are the tasks that are required to achieve the goals and the sand is unimportant tasks.
If you fill your jar with sand, then some stones, the big rocks won’t fit. But if you put the big rocks in first, then the stones, you’re not left with much time for the sand (unimportant tasks that lead to procrastination.)
Normally for your big rocks you set your 3 biggest goals out, usually financially, health/fitness and another goal that means a lot to you.
From here you pick the one that is going to make the biggest impact in your life and happiness and that is where all your focus goes, towards the tasks that will help you hit the big goal rather than small unimportant tasks.
Energy Flows Where Focus Goes
This leads on from the big rocks as once you have your 3 goals and the tasks needed to work towards them then your energy will head towards completing these tasks.
The issue is while you are putting all your effort into the tasks to hit the goals, other areas of your life may fall behind while as you only have so much mental capacity and times.
So for example if you want to move forward at work and make more sales, you might need to put more time into being on your laptop or in the office, which can take away time from your fitness training plan.
You need to find and plan ahead of time what is going to fall by the wayside and make peace with that. The best way to make rapid progress towards success is to prune your goals down to the absolute essential tasks so you don’t waste more energy on activities that you don’t need to do.
You need to get your priorities lined up so you can focus on one task at a time.
Problem Solve Ahead Of Time
Look at what potential problems might pop up while you are working towards your goal.
If you are looking at changing your body in the next 6 months but you either have Christmas or a holiday in the middle of that then your routine and regular nutritional plan may go out the window for a week or 2.
And that is ok if you plan ahead of time to set up your best chance of progress. Remember it is all about imperfect action, keep moving forward 1% at a time. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Write Down Your Goals & Review Periodically
Writing them down helps the mind focus on them and it acts as a form of accountability that you will work towards this goal that then gives you a benchmark to track your progress.
The other part of this is setting a review date of your goals, systems and progress. This gives you a chance to slow down and look at what worked, what didn’t work, what can you do next. Your goals may have changed too.
Maybe you originally set out to run a 5km race but after 3 months you are already doing that consistently and you want to push for a 10km.
Constantly checking where you are, where you are going and what you have achieved will keep your drive higher when having to put the hard work in.
Accountability Buddy
One of the greatest tools is having someone hold you accountable. Making sure you did what you said you would. This could be a life coach, a business coach, a personal trainer or just a friend you are happy to share with.
Having an external person keep you accountable to what you need to do makes it more likely that you will do the work.
It’s a way to drive you forward so that you don’t have to experience that horrible feeling of having to explain to someone why you haven’t completed a task or hit a deadline.
Either hire someone or partner up with a friend who wants to achieve something too. Keep each other moving forward.
Set Your Environment For Success
Have you ever noticed how if you have a bottle of water in sight you drink it?
Or if you have chocolates in your home you eventually get through them and if you have your gym kit packed and by the door you’re more likely to go.
Create the environment you need to achieve success especially when it comes to your nutritional goals.
If you need to drink more water then constantly have a water bottle topped up and with you, reduce how often you buy snacks so they’re not sat around you and get your bags packed the night before so you don’t have to try and dig out your gym clothes in the morning.
Eliminate options and streamline your focus on what you need to do/eat/read to achieve your goals.
Moving Forward.
So at some point over the coming weeks, try to book out 30-60 minutes of time and sit down to list out the following.
Long term goals (5 year plan)
Medium team goals (1-3 year plan)
Short term goals ( the next 3 months)
Personal goals – Health, relationships, hobbies
Professional goals – Job performance, skill development, promotions
Financial goals – Saving goals, paying off debt, investing targets
Academic goals – courses to study, books to read, podcasts to listen to
Social goals – Networking, events to attend, bucket list items
Fitness goals – Body composition, nutritional intake, get ready for a race
Hopefully the above helps you set up for your best year yet and if you need any help or guidance towards your health and fitness goals then hit the button below and a coach will reach out to discuss how we can help you make meaningful changes in your life that will last.
Do you want to work with a coach? Click below to apply for a space!
Ben - Head PT for London Fitness Mamas
Ben is a dad of 2, who has been working with pre and postnatal clients since 2009.
He believes strongly in making exercise and nutrition as simple as possible while looking for progression in every aspect of your lifestyle.
Motherhood is a unique phase of life and requires a unique training programme.