One year is ending, a new one will soon be beginning. And it’s during this time when many people set goals to better themselves. While I don’t necessarily use the new year myself as a time to set goals (I implement goals as soon as I can reasonable pursue them), I thought now was a good time to write a blog post on goals and share what I found works for me regarding goal setting. While what works for me may not work for you, I hope this post at least inspires you to find something new and find what does work for you!
Many times the goals set at New Years are fitness related in order to achieve better health—which is great because without having optimal health I venture to say the vast majority of us work less at other goals and pursuits we have in life. Not to mention the fact that physical health can also affect our mental and emotional health too.
So let me get this post started. I’ll list a few main points and then discuss each more in-depth.
• Write down your goal(s)
It sounds simple but the act of putting pen to paper makes it a bit more official. I often think that the thought of my goal(s) in my head as a concept, and the act of actually writing down of the goal as an initial step in the journey to achieving it. I also suggest sticking to the paper and pen format too. It’s just my belief that it’s a little more tactile and thus productive than typing it on your digital device(s). That’s not say you can’t also add it to your device (it’s another means of “making it official”), but I find it’s just not the same as pen to paper. Either way, by moving from the thought/idea/concept in your head to writing down your goal(s), you now have a way hold yourself accountable!
• Break down your goal(s)
Cutting your goal down to smaller and more attainable achievements helps to take the enormity of the goal back to something that doesn’t seem as overwhelming sometimes—especially if you have a really big goal or if you’re a type A person. These smaller units become more achievable and make it easier to see positive progression which in turn makes you feel better about your overall progression toward your goal. Similarly, setting different degrees of a goal can also be helpful. For instance, say your goal is to lift a certain amount of weight. You could set mini goals of lifting say 70% of that weight, 85%, and finally the actual goal weight. This way in case something gets in the way (injury, work, other personal commitments) of you achieving your ultimate goal, you can still have a sense of accomplishment in achieving these smaller goals, and knowing while it may take longer, you are at least in progress with your goal.
• Envision
This is a big one for me personally! While training, envision yourself achieving your goal. For 2016, my big personal goal was to run my first ultramarathon, which as it turns out was going to be a 12 hr event. This was incredibly far more than I had ever taken on before and something I needed to put major time and effort into my training. Even during the initial training stages, I would envision myself being in my goal race while I was out training for it. It was good practice in that come race day, I had experience in knowing what to change when something isn’t going as I had planned. It was as much mental as it was physical—which I feel if you’re honest with yourself you’ll agree that’s the truth when trying to meet any goal that’s physical in nature. Finally, believe in that envisioning! Trust me on this point, you will be much more successful when you believe in that envisioning. It may take awhile to learn this skill but consistency is the key. To me, this envisioning is a powerful tool toward success!
• Develop a mantra
This is another act I highly recommend! Inevitably you’ll have some lows come along in your journey and having a mantra to say to yourself I’ve found to be a great way to get back on track and work toward positive progression. It can be one word, one sentence, or whatever you want it—just be sure you believe it! That is the key—believing it!
Don’t borrow a friend’s mantra unless it actually works for you. I’d really suggest finding your own honestly. Both you and your goal are unique—so why shouldn’t your mantra be unique too? One of my main mantra’s (in life) is “I trust that I am prepared.” This mantra holds me accountable constantly. Initially I adopted it in training for my first marathon, then applied it professionally when going back to college to get a new degree, and then again personally when training for my first ultramarathon. I successfully achieved all of these so you can see it works for me. While working toward my goal, if I don’t feel like I’m at the point where I should to be totally prepared to achieve my goal, then I know I have change what I’m doing or work harder or work smarter. And that leads me to my final main point.
• Review your goal(s) periodically
I also find this act to be instrumental in successful goal achievement. My personal suggestion is to review both your main goal and any sub-goals you established. In reviewing your goals, you once again hold yourself accountable for your progress, which I always feel is good. Related to my last previous main point, it also allows you to at the very least see, if not actually make, the necessary changes for positive progression. I feel reviewing your goal(s) also helps you weed out what isn’t working and thus allows for quicker growth by enabling you to focus on what is working.
I’d encourage you to at least try and see if a few of these work for you. You never know. Life constantly changes so just because it didn’t work before doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked and work for you now—or just use it as a starting point. As long as you make forward progress that is the key! Good luck—you can do it! Get to it and accomplish something you didn’t think you were capable of!
