New Year, New You? 5 Simple Goal Making Tips.

Ok. It’s January 19, 2018. You’ve had 19 days to work on your New Year’s Resolutions. Are you a changed person? Have you achieved them all already? Be honest with me…do you even remember what your resolutions were? Did you even write them down?

Don’t worry, no judgement here. Do you know what percent of people actually accomplish their New Years Resolutions? 8%. EIGHT PERCENT. So if you have already forgotten your resolutions then you’re in good company – with 92% of the world.

Today I want to talk about how to not be that 92% and be in the 8% who actually accomplish their goals. This was inspired by a desk calendar a dear friend gave me for Christmas. Each day is a new quote from my favorite Success Coach, Jen Sincero. She wrote a book called, “You are a Badass How to Step Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.” If you have been following me you’ve probably already heard me rave about her and her book.

Today’s quote says, “SET HONEST GOALS. Don’t decide you’re going to run ten miles a day when you still consider walking to the pizza parlor around the corner a day’s worth of exercise. Start with running half a mile a day and add more as you get stronger. Disciple is a muscle; you have to build it at your own pace. If you bite off more than you chew at the start, chances are excellent you’ll get discouraged and give up altogether. Set honest goals that are just outside your comfort zone and build from there.”

Ok great but how do we set honest goals? I want to offer 5 Simple Goal Making Tips to help you be part of that 8% we talked about earlier.

1. GET HONEST WITH YOURSELF – As Jen suggested. It’s easy to make things seem not as bad as they really are. If your goal is to work out more, sit down and count how many times in the last couple months you actually worked out. It’s too easy to think, “I’m going to work out 5 times a week, that’s what my FitBit suggest so it can’t be that hard.” But then when you sit down and count how many times you really worked out the last 2 months and the number is only 5… Hmm…Less than once a week to 5 days a week is a BIG stretch. Acknowledging where you are at now will help you know what’s doable for you.
2. SMALL HINGES SWING BIG DOORS. Building off my last tip – start small. There is no shame in starting small. We are creatures of habit and so breaking old habits or creating new ones takes time. Allow yourself to take that time. Remember these are year-long goals. You have time to become the person you really want to be! If you start with small more manageable goals you wont get overwhelmed and give up. Instead you’ll see progress and what’s more motivating than seeing progress? I am really good at thinking big picture which makes it easy for me to get ahead of myself. So I’ve started making big, long-term goals then taking the time to break those down into small manageable steps of how to ultimately achieve that big goal. It just means I have more little boxes to check off, which is super motivating!
3. A GOAL NOT WRITTEN DOWN IS JUST A WISH. This one is simple – write down your goals. Get specific too, don’t write down “Eat Healthier.” Eat healthier how? What do you want to cut out? What healthy foods do you want to try? How many new recipes do you want to try? How are you going to make the healthy eating happen? Planning meals? Following bloggers who give recipe ideas? And the questions could keep coming! Write down specifics of how you are going to make that goal happen, but also write down how you will know when you’ve achieved that goal? How will your life be different because of the changes you made? Picture what it will feel like, and look like and write that all down.
4. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. This will look different for everyone. Maybe you’re like me and you love the feeling of checking a box or crossing something off a list. In your planner make a box in your planner to check when you drink your water, or complete a workout. Or keep a journal to write down how things are going – what are you struggling with? What are you enjoying? Do you need to make adjustments?
5. GET ACCOUNTABLE. Tell people you are close to about your goals. Even tell them how they can help you. Better yet, get them to join you. In order to make lasting changes you need support and accountability. Whether that be your spouse, best friend, or a Health Coach being accountable to someone other that yourself will increase the likelihood that your achieve your goals.

There ya have it! My 5 Simple Goal Making Tips. Which ones are you going to try? It doesn’t have to be New Year’s Day for a fresh start. Every new day is a change for a new start. Be patient with yourself through the process. Change can be a slow, long process but it CAN and DOES happen if you put in the work.

I’ll leave you with my motto – You are capable of some pretty great things. So get to it!