As the year comes to an end, we often find ourselves evaluating the past and goal setting for the future. Whether we want to start the new year by improving our fitness, growing in our career, or focusing more on our personal lives, the new year is a time for goal setting. The challenge is that all too often we struggle in reaching our desired goals or we lose sight of our vision along the way. In this blog I will discuss several steps that have given me success in goal setting and helped me develop a more focused lifestyle.
1.) Identify:
First and foremost you must identify your goals with great detail. Being specific is crucial. For example, it isn’t enough to say you want to be fit. What specifically do you want? To grow more muscle or lose weight? Be even more specific, “I want to lose 10 lbs, over the next 3 months”. Identifying your goals and being specific helps really develop a stronger action plan to reach your ultimate goal, whatever it maybe.
2.) Whats Your Why?
Identify your goal, and then ask yourself why do I want this? This is important, because without expressing your why, motivation can be hard to maintain. “I want to lose 10 lbs, so I will feel more comfortable in my swimsuit”. This sounds so simple, but not defining a strong “why” can lead to a loss of motivation and ultimately failure.
3.) Set a timeline with given targets
Once you’ve found your goal and your why, now it’s time to develop a game plan for reaching this goal. The more prepared and planful you are, the more likely you’ll be successful. So I map out how I am going to reach this goal, often in incremental steps. It’s important to factor in specific dates or time sensitive dates. This helps keep you on track and can help prevent procrastination. Since I travel often to various events, I always try to use those as goal marks for my fitness goals, which ultimately keeps me motivated and focused on attaining those goals.
4.) Find role models
In life we are all students, continually learning and growing from those around us. Finding a role model who has already reached or is currently reaching towards similar goals and interests can be a great help in achieving your goals. If you want to grow in your career, then find someone who is in the field you want to be in. Learn from them: how did they get there, how do they maintain their motivation and drive? Perhaps they will even join you along your journey, in which you both can help motivate and push one another.
5.) Re-evaluate and Adjust
Finally, as time goes by make sure to re-evaluate and adjust as needed. Life happens, and unexpected obstacles come up along the way. This is something you can count on. Making sure to follow your set strategy and evaluate your progress is important, but making adjustments along the way is to be expected. As long as you never lose sight of your WHY and keep up your motivation, you will find yourself on a path of success.
Best of luck and Happy New Year!
Thanks Dylan, going to try, and keep up the posts.