ARE YOUR HEALTH GOALS SETTING YOU UP TO FAIL?
Goals are a part of life. Health goals, weight loss goals, nutrition goals, and fitness goals - they are all a part of life and there are some critical components of these goals that will determine if we achieve them or not.
Whatever the goal, the journey to reach it is going to take effort, mental fortitude, problem-solving and more and what can help to ensure a smoother journey and better outcome starts with goal setting. Learning how to set appropriate goals, reverse engineering them and taking the appropriate step-by-step with intentional effort is a huge part of 1:1 health coaching.
Does Your Ultimate Goal Lead to Happiness?
I talk to a lot of women on a weekly basis who don't like where they are either in how they feel or in how they look and there's two questions that help me, help them and I think this will also help you too.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly do you want to change your body or to change how you feel?
If you had to put your goal in one of these categories, would it be in the “that would be nice to have” category or in the "I'd do anything to have that" category? (BE HONEST with yourself here).
By answering these two questions you are deciding just how much effort you are going to put in to accomplishing the goal at hand. And if you rank your goal under an 8 in importance and as one that is in the category "that would be nice to have"... it's most likely going to elicit a fair weather kind of effort.
And when the going gets tough, or when a challenge arises, you're likely to give up or think that you just aren't capable or able to make the change. When you are in a "this would be nice to have" mindset, you look for the quickest way to the goal and will even accept (and try to find) any short cuts. You've already decided the outcome.
But when you decide your goal is an "I'd do anything to have that" kind of goal, you accept that there will be challenges along your journey. You find help when it's needed. You decide that there isn't any other option but to figure out how to succeed. And you won't stop until you find the solutions. And in this case, you've already succeeded.
If your goal is in the latter category, it is most likely more precise and ambitious or else it wouldn’t carry such weight for you, right? For example, “It would be nice to lose a couple of pounds” compared to “I want to lose 10 pounds, tone up and feel great in my bikini for my holiday in Florida this July”.
And being more ambitious is GOOD. Research has also shown that ambitious goals are far more motivating than easily achieved goals. (Geoffrey James)
What Kind of Goals do You Set For Yourself?
As you are shifting your chosen goals into the realm of "I'd do anything to have that" type of goals to make sure you are setting yourself up to succeed from the start, you'll also want to utilize this self-mastery technique...
Instead of acknowledging the reasons why not, the problems, the hardships, look for the solutions.
The moment you shift from seeing problems to seeking solutions, everything changes.
Both your body and your brain are programmed to keep you safe. It will look for threats and also, the negatives. And if you believe that initial response, you'll be caught in a story that tells you why you can't, shouldn't or aren't capable enough to achieve or change a less than ideal situation.
For example, your reason why you can’t lose the weight and tone up for Florida might be that you ‘don’t have time’, or you ‘can’t afford a personal trainer’. Well, we have ALL thought of these excuses and then some. Let’s shift that mindset to solutions.
You can set your alarm 30 minutes earlier and run around the local park. You could replace a half hour of TV time with yoga. You could get an app that gives you at-home workout routines using bodyweight. All of these are solutions that will get you to your end goal.
Then, once you start, everything will change. An ancient Chinese proverb teaches us that ‘a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step’. Those solutions are your first step to deciding your successes to come.
You have to intentionally work at shifting that response to support a mindset that will allow you to achieve all you desire. On the daily, look at how many things arise that could steer you off plan, that could excuse your actions or even sabotage desired change. By addressing these things, you can improve your self accountability.
Could it be that on the daily office coffee run you decide your order before getting to the coffee shop (coffee and NO pastry)? or you park a few blocks away from your kids’ school and walk the extra way?
There’s little things in your day that you can alter that will soon become routine. If you want to know more about habit change, take a read of this blog post I wrote on how to make the process easy.
How Does Goal Setting Actually Work?
Goal-setting is an embedded part in health coaching, each client needs to define their individual goals to establish the appropriate action steps to achieve it. So I wanted to take a sec to explain why proper goal setting is so effective.
The methods I use with my clients to consciously change behaviors are actually quietly happening in the background of your brain pathways. With the help of a piece written by Geoffrey James, I am able to break it down.
Did you know, goal setting is actually proven to restructure your brain cells?
Your amygdala is the part of your brain that dictates emotion. It decides how important a goal is to you, so it is subconsciously asking the two questions I ask to my clients.
Your frontal lobe is the part of your brain responsible for problem solving. Here, you’re outlining the specifics of the goals. Your brain is working in the background to figure out the first steps on your journey.
The amygdala and frontal lobe join forces to keep you focused on your goals. They direct you towards behaviors, situations and environments that can best lead you to your end goal. They can help you to ignore those that will not serve you to avoid distractions.
So goal-setting is not just changing your conscious decisions and behaviors, it is making the most of your neuroplasticity to alter the structure of your brain in order to achieve your goal.
Time to Assess Your Goals
Now it’s time to apply this knowledge to your goals.
Think of what you would like to achieve and ask yourself those two pivotal questions: Rank how badly you want the change on a scale of 1 to 10 and then categorize it into “that would be nice to have” or "I'd do anything to have that".
Consider the obstacles and distractions you may encounter along the way and set yourself a plan of how to overcome these.
You know you can do it, your brain is already helping you to!
If you feel that your goal is just too hard, get in touch for guidance. As a coach, I am here to make your goals seem less scary and far away. You can book a free chat with us to see whether it is the right path for you.
Remember, it is not going to be easy. It's in the moments that challenges arise you can either respond to the challenge or seek a solution to the challenge...which one you choose, will determine the direction you go.
Want to Dig a Little Deeper?
I recorded a talk to help with goal setting and to master the discomfort that comes with is, take a look and let me know how this is going to help your journey!
A pep talk to remind you that your goals are CHOSEN. They aren't assigned to you, they are decided by you and with that comes empowerment. Understanding that discomfort is going to be part of the journey but your why for choosing your goal can help you overcome and persist.