It’s the first Monday of the New year and we have 366, (minus 4) days left of 2016 (This year is a leap year so girls get ready to drop a knee! *Check out the film “Leap Year” if you’re confused). As I write this post, I’m pondering whether I have written down everything I want to achieve from it; where do I want to be, what do I want to change and what do I want to accomplish come the 1st January 2017?
Is it possible to think of every single thing that needs to happen a year in advance? Is it possible to stick to all of them, and should ”˜them’ be a simple 3 goals or a list of 10 because our parents always taught us to reach for the stars? There are so many questions that run through our heads every year on the 1st January, and more often than not for that day alone. I want to share with you my experience and knowledge on what works best and how to go about creating your goals to completely kick 2016’s butt! Whether it’s fat loss, becoming a gazillionaire or just doing better in different areas of your life, here are my top tips on how to set your goals, and achieve them, for 2016.
Take a little journey with me and rewind 5 years and ask me my New Years resolutions….
“To give up chocolate”
“To get SUPER slim and healthy”
“To read one book a week and expand my knowledge”
Do any sound familiar? All somewhat reasonable and worthy goals on first glance, and ones that I had the best intentions of sticking to, but they never seemed to last longer than a month. Here’s why”¦
If you’ve read my article on how to kick-start fat loss then you’ll know what I mean when I say that to make a change, you have to have enough pain or pleasure connected to that change for it to really stick. We successfully change or successfully achieve something because we have the strongest of desires to do it, and it works both ways. Do you have so much pain connected to eating chocolate that it’s finally going to be enough to make you stop? Or do you have so much pleasure associated with making money that you’ll do anything to get there? It’s an essential, non-negotiable part of fruitful goal setting that has been practised and proven time and time again. Along with powerful associations comes other crucial steps which I’ve outlined below. Follow these four stages when you set your goal and you will reap the rewards for the rest of the year!
1) Decide on a goal that has purpose and meaning to you.
If you eat the odd piece of chocolate every now and again, are in great shape and don’t crave sugar, do not set yourself a goal of giving it up…you don’t need to! Instead, focus on something that will make a big difference in your life and to you. Aim big!
2) Make it reasonable.
I am all for believing you can achieve anything you put your mind to, but we also want to enjoy life and not let unrealistic goals consume us. I would say I’m a good reader and I enjoy a book during a little down time, but to try and set myself a goal of finishing one book a week was unrealistic for me and therefore unsurprisingly didn’t get achieved. Make it a stretch, and push yourself to get there, but ensure it’s doable in the first place.
3) Grab your best pad and pen.
Laptops may consume our generation but when it comes to deciding on a goal and sticking to it, using a paper and pen is the only way. It’s actually been proven that writing something down on paper increases the chance of achieving it far greater than typing on a laptop, or even not writing it down at all. Get your most prized notebook, one that won’t end up with rough notes on throughout the year and in your best handwriting, list down your goals!
4) Make them specific.
SMART goals are an old trick but it’s longevity exists for a reason. If your goal is to save £3000, write down how much you are putting away each month (again make it realistic and stick to it) and put down the exact date you will have saved that £3000 by. Write down the reason why you want to save the money: for a deposit or a holiday? All these reasons will help you to save the amount you said you would with each passing month.
My goals this year include (but are not exclusive!) the following:
1) To eat vegetarian for one day a week for the year. I love meat but I was recently enlightened to the impact our meat consumption is having on our planet and if I can start playing my part to reduce that, there has been a positive change. There are also health reasons too by letting my body rest from digesting meat, but with the two combined I feel very strongly about making the change!
2) Wedding goals
“To be in the best shape of my life” is the overall gist. I have my figures of muscle mass and body fat percentage that I want to achieve by certain dates ”“ so it’s specific and realistic!
A cookbook, my personal training, money saving and many more are in the mix but I shall save them for another time!
Happy 2016 everyone and I hope this year brings you all the happiness you could wish for x
