So, you want to slip into that fabulous wedding dress without needing to hold your breath for 12 hours, eh?
Well, the first step is realising that is your goal!
It may not sound exciting, but one of the most rewarding parts of any new health regime is setting your goal.
However, the problem with most goals is that once they’re written down, few people ever revisit their goals and, generally, they’re not heard of, spoken of or even looked at again.
Each month I set my clients’ goals with them.
The likelihood of them achieving those goals comes down to a few key things, one of which is actually remembering them.
If they can’t tell me exactly what their goals are, there is no way they can achieve them.
Knowing what you want is the first and most important step, but knowing what is holding you back is the key to success.
Here are some of the ‘tough’ questions you need to ask yourself:
1. What do I want to achieve with my health?
If there are a number of things, great, write them all down BUT has a number one goal that you want to achieve. Once you’re picked that goal break it into bite size pieces. If I was doing a marathon there is no way I’d be thinking about the whole 42 painful kilometres, I’d break it into blocks of 5km. It’s the same with you, if you want to lose 30 kilos don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task just concentrate on the first part of it.
2. Ask yourself, is this something I have attempted before and not been able to achieve? For example did you try and lose 10 kilos in the past and moved on from it after a week ? Was it on that “to do list” that you never got around to doing.
3. If the answer is yes, ask yourself, what stopped me in the past? This might include not enough time, falling off the bandwagon when you went on holidays, you got sick, not having the right support, lack of motivation, procrastination, lack of self belief, not knowing how to start, or maybe you just didn’t know what stopped you.
4. It’s important that you self assess why this hasn’t worked in the past and see if there are any patterns that repeat themselves. For example, do you often go out with all guns blazing at the start and then within a couple of weeks you lose that motivation? Do you put off getting starting your new regime for so long you end up throwing in the towel? Do you try and do too much at once, and it becomes a bit overwhelming? Identifying your past habits is the key to changing them.
5. You can do whatever you want to do. What you tell yourself can also stop you from achieving your health and fitness goals. For example, if you have decided that you are going to be a size 10 to fit into the wedding dress to believe anything else would sabotage your chances of reaching that. If you’ve told yourself that this year is the year you’re finally going to complete the half marathon but you have an underlying belief that, “I’m not fit enough,” or “It’s impossible to run that far,” how motivating and effective will you be?
6. If there were just two changes that needed to happen for you to be totally successful and reach your goals, what would they be? For example: Having more confidence? Breaking bad habits? Get over fear of challenges? Write down anything and everything that comes to mind.
8. List three things you can do each day starting now to move forward with achieving your wedding goals. Is it related to food, fitness, sleep, stress, lifestyle management? Anything related to your overall wellbeing that will help you move forward. To keep yourself accountable, tell your friends, personal trainer, partner what you intend to do. This puts the power squarely in your hands to determine your results.
9. Take action daily and review your goals weekly. Many small steps towards your goal will move you towards the accomplishments you wish to attain.
10. Keep the top 3 goals written on a piece of paper at your desk or somewhere you visit daily so they are at the forefront of your mind. If you’re not thinking about them, they’re not happening.
11. When you achieve a goal, celebrate! This is a great way to reward yourself for a job well done. It will anchor that wonderful sense of achievement within your psychology and physiology. Just don’t celebrate with a two-day sugar binge … we’ll be back to square one.
