New Year Goal Setting

2021 is finally over!  It's a new year, and for many, 2022 couldn't come soon enough!  If you're still jumping for joy, great, exercise is good for you.  Now, a new year for many comes with a resolution.  No matter what your resolution is, we hope to help equip you with the tools you need to accomplish your goals.

Goals & Habit Creation

For many, your New Year goal is most likely a new habit you wish to develop.  For example; "I'd like to work out more," or "I would like to eat healthier."  New habits stem from setting goals, but then being consistent over time to develop a new way of life.  In this blog, we will cover how to set goals, as well as how to turn your goals into habits for long-term success.

Tips For Setting Goals in 2022

1. Decide Your Goal & Write Your Goal Down - For the purpose of this exercise, we will use the goal of "I plan to lose 50lb in 2022."  GREAT GOAL!  Now where do you start?  Now that you have decided on your goal, it's time to write it down.  EVERYWHERE.  Sometimes to stay on track, you just need a constant reminder of what your goal is.  Also, write down some reasons WHY you set this goal.
2. Find An Accountability Partner -  The more people in your life that can check up on you and keep you accountable is vital to your success.  Many people look to support groups for various reasons because support groups work!  Community is a vital tool in living a happier life, and a sense of happiness can help motivate you to keep pushing to your goal.  For this example, we have reached out to our spouse and our kids to let them know we plan to lose 50lb in 2022.  Now we hope our loved ones will help hold us accountable and check in on our progress regularly!
3. Break Down Your Goal Into Steps - We are not going to lose 50lb in a day.  That would be nice wouldn't it?!  Unfortunately, that is not possible, however, we can set ourselves up with steps to attain along the way and keep us moving towards our overall goal.  For this example, we did some research and we found out that the healthy amount of weight loss for a week is 1-2lb.  We also found out that from lifting weights, weight GAIN is not uncommon, so we should also use other factors such as feeling how our clothes fit each week to track our progress.  We decided to reach out to a trainer and a nutritionist (we have Sharon Price here if you would like to schedule a call!) and we have set a goal of 5lb of weight loss per month.
4. Develop Your Plan For Each Step -  Now that we have our Goal steps defined, as well as we have equipped ourselves with the tools needed for success, it's time to get to work!  We have relied on our trainer and nutritionist to develop a workout and nutrition plan for us to follow.  We will be working out 5 days per week and eating on a interval fasting plan.  We will meet with our trainer 1x per week to update and make changes to our plan if needed, and we will meet with our nutritionist 1x per month to make sure we don't need to make any changes there too.
5. Take Action & Be Consistent - We are sure you have heard the phrase "consistency is key," and it's absolutely true!  Being strict and consistent in the details of your plan will keep you on track to achieve your goals.  Life is full of temptation, however you should always go back to your WHY.  Trust us, your WHY is more important than that pizza!  In this example, we decided to not take any "cheat meals" or "once a week desserts" because we want to achieve our goal NOW!  Don't give in.  Be consistent.  The word consistent will come into effect again later in this blog!
6. Keep Record Of Your Progress -  In this example, keep track of your workouts!  Write down the food you eat.  Help yourself visualize all that is going on each and every day.  Once you can put the relevant information in your conscious mind daily, suddenly the process starts to make more sense and you feel like everything is more attainable!
7.  Celebrate! - Life should be fun.  When you reach your goal, pat yourself on your back.  Brag to your friends.  Share your story.  Don't celebrate too hard!  You will find that once you achieve a goal, you will want to set more goals.  That's right, now you're a goal setting machine!

Other Tips To Know About:

• Avoid Comparisons
• Embrace Failure
• Enjoy The Process

If you aren't taking any action to turn your life now, chances are you will live the same routine for the rest of your time.

Quick Tips For Developing Life Long Habits

If your goal is truly a habit changing goal, it's vital you implement our quick tips on how to develop life long habits.  Losing 50lb is great, however a lifetime of healthy eating and consistent exercise will keep you healthy and ideally living a longer life.  Try adding our quick habit forming tips below:

• Commit -  We suggest committing to 45 days.  You've made it to 45 days!  Great, why stop now?  You've already proved to yourself you can do this!
• Consistent - Your goal might take a year to achieve, but you should be focused on today.  What can you do today to get yourself across the finish line later?
• Temptation - That's right, you can use temptation in a POSITIVE way!  So you want to lose 50lb.  Why not set aside $10 for every pound you lose and keep off for 14 days.  When you reached your goal you will have $500 to reward yourself with.  Also, remove negative temptations!
• Research - Know the benefits of achieving your goals and/or the implications of not following through.
• Be Smart - Make sure your goals are attainable.  Make sure to give yourself a fighting chance!

We appreciate you valuing our input on goal setting!  Know, we are not the experts, and there is plenty of great information out there.  Do your research.