One of the biggest obstacles people come across in their health and fitness journey is their goal. Seems weird, but hear me out. We all have this ONE thing we want to reach..maybe it’s to be healthy, to lose weight, to fit into an old pair of pants and that is great..but it’s too big. It’s so big, that it’s scary. So going after it seems too hard, so we just keep telling me that is our goal without taking steps towards it. That is why I want to teach you how to set goals that are both attainable and long term!
First things first…
goal
/ɡōl/
noun
Table of Contents
Let’s break down goals in general and really dig down deep into setting a goal that speaks to what you want to achieve. So many people talk about losing weight, or toning their muscles…but really that is just a goal they have been saying to themselves for years and it kind of just turned into a…habit.
Your goal is going to be…
Something you cannot stop thinking about. Something you want so badly, you are will to do whatever it takes, right now and until you achieve it. Something that sets your soul on FIRE. Something that puts a smile on your face when you even think about it. But also something that is scary. Something that is absolutely terrifying and you have never tried something like that before.
But you aren’t going to get the reward right now. And maybe not in 2 months, or even two years. It’ll take a lot of time, hard work, dedication. It’s probably also going to mean that you are going to have to give a few things up RIGHT NOW, to get you to your goal.
So let’s take weight loss, again the most common goal I come across, as an example. You have a goal to lose 20lbs. You have dreamed of it for awhile, you have talked about it for awhile, and now you are ready to start working towards it! When it comes down to it, you are not going to get instant gratification from this goal. This is going to take months to achieve, but the end goal is going to be worth it!
This also means you are going to have to give up some things to get to this goal. You’ll have to give up certain foods (or limit them). You’ll have to give up something to make time for exercise. Maybe you will have to start surrounding yourself with people who support your new healthy lifestyle, and cheer you on! And not to mention if you are someone who regularly goes out to eat, and has some alcoholic beverages…you might need to find a new hobby!
These are all things that have to do with setting a long term goal, and making sure your lifestyle changes lead you in that direction! Which is why we need short term goals.
So our long term goal is big, and scary and it seems like it will NEVER happen. And even if we set our sights that far out, we might get lost and start steering away from the path because the goal is too far way. That is why we need to set short term goals.
Short term goals are things that are going to keep us excited. Things that are going to make us continue to think about our goal, and get us closer to it without feeling overwhelmed! They are also just going to be small and simple, so that they are attainable.
If we only ever set big, scary goals we would never achieve them because there was no smaller/shorter steps to get there. We need stepping stones! We need some kind of gratification along the way!
So when it comes to short term, attainable goals with weight loss we have to think…
lose 2lbs
drop 1 pants size
exercise 5x/week
drink 80oz of water per day
sleep 7-8 hours a night
lose 1in around waste
These are stepping stones that are going to get us to that 20lb weight loss! Which will then allow our motivation to stay high, we stay the path and sooner or later we will hit that long term goal.
So let’s wrap it all up into 6 steps you can follow to set a goal for yourself, so that this time you DO something to achieve it…instead of just think about it.
So think about your big goal, your one thing, your can’t stop thinking about. Then, break it down. Find out what it is going to take to get there. What small stepping stones can you put into place that will form the path to your long term goal. That is how you set goals, and make them attainable. Anyone can lose 2lbs, but it takes someone who has dove ALL in the lose 20lbs!
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