It’s Day 1, you’ve said to yourself I am going to lose 2 stone this year, I am going to get to the gym consistently every week, no more sweets and crisps and the wine is only gonna be at the weekends. This is great and is going really well on day 1 and also for the first couple weeks. However, week 3 comes round and that motivation to get to the gym today has really slowed, you’re also craving something sweet after not having anything for two weeks and they keep passing them round the office at work. By week 4, it has all gone to pot. You could kill for a take away and you are starting to dread going to the gym, furthermore your friend has invited you out for dinner and you just give in and order a full 3 course meal. You start to feel like a failure, and just say sod it, I give up.
Sound familiar???
If so, don’t worry. It’s not only you this happens to. It happens to so many women out there and has happened to so many of our current members who have been left wondering what they have to do to not feel like a failure and actually achieve the goals they set.
But how???
- Be Clear on WHY you want to achieve your goals
You know what you want to achieve. It may be to lose 2 stone, it may be to be able to climb the office stairs without being out of breath. But what you likely haven’t done, is ask yourself why you want to achieve this goal?
- How will achieving your outcome-based goal enhance your life or make you happier?
- What are you willing to do to achieve this goal?
- What are you unwilling to do to achieve this goal?
- How do you want to feel after achieving your goal? More confident? More energetic? Stronger? Happier with your relationship with food?
- When would you like to reach your goal?
- Are you pursuing this goal for yourself, or is it for someone else?
Answering these questions will help you to really make sure you create a goal that is suitable and realistic to yourself, and important enough that you will go that extra mile to achieve it.
2. Think about other things in your life
When setting your goals, don’t forget to think about the multitude of other things going on in your life. I am sure there are many, and some will not be very conducive to achieving your goal, so these all need considering.
Take a look at your calendar and have a think about a few things that will be cropping up during that time that may impact your exercise and nutrition. Do you have any travel, holidays, big work deadlines, activities for your kids, half-terms? If so, it will be really helpful for you to plan around those times, rather than wrongly assuming that you’ll be able to push through it. It may be a case of having to plan to complete only a couple of workouts on some weeks when you have things on, rather than every day. You may need to plan and prepare your food for some weeks when you know you will be out with the kids all day on holidays or days out.
Whatever you need to do, just don’t forget about these other obligations and things in life that we need to account for.
By following these couple of steps, this will really help you to set goals that you will feel confident in being able to achieve as you have taken into account knowing the importance of your goals and also the potential situations that may disrupt your progress towards your goals. So get setting, get thinking and get planning, then in no time you will be well on your way to having a solid plan to achieve your goals.