How to turn your goals into life-changing action?

IF YOUR GOALS ARE JUST A LIST YOU FAIL TO ACHIEVE EVERY YEAR, HERE’S HOW TO TURN THEM INTO LIFE-CHANGING ACTION.

It’s that time of the year again when you are reflecting on last year’s goals and writing up new ones for the months ahead. Maybe you are writing the same goals every year because you just can’t seem to give those bad boys the big ol’ tick of achievement. Maybe you’re sick to death of starting the year off TOTALLY PUMPED but getting to December and thinking: “ah, bugger it, I’ll try again next year.” This kind of groundhog day business can make you feel like a failure and HEY nobody needs that kind of knock to their self-esteem when they’ve just survived 14 Christmas hangovers in a row. AMIRIGHT? So here’s the trick to setting goals that you can achieve: rather than just writing an aspirational list, simply spend a little extra time thinking about the WHAT, WHY and HOW of your goal.

I have used this approach successfully with my clients and if you do the same I promise you that come December 2021 you’ll be ticking off that list like a Tick Boss. They’ll call you Captain Tick. The Tickinator. The Big Tick. OK, let’s move on. Fantas-tick!

If your goal is to finally put that injury behind you or run a 10km race or build strength or reach another health goal then book a consultation and you’re already moving on your HOW! Click here.

WHAT? – What is your GOAL!

Step one is to simply write down your goals. They can be whatever you want. I’m not here to shoot down your goals and say they are too ambitious. If you set mediocre goals you will only ever reach mediocre targets. However, if you set huge goals and work towards them you will continue to become amazing. The most important thing is to write them down and share them with people. When you voice your goals you will become more likely to work towards them as you are now accountable for them. Make sure that there is an objectively measurable target so you know what you are working toward. For example: lose 5kg in 3 months, run 5km in 30 mins, read 10 pages everyday.

WHY? – What is your WHY?

Step two is the most important step and where you need to dig deep and be honest and vulnerable with yourself. This is where you will find your drive for your goal. Let’s use the example of losing weight. Ask yourself WHY? If your answer is: “to look better” this seems pretty superficial and you might need to dig deeper and ask yourself why again. One that usually comes up with this scenario is “to build confidence”. Again, ask yourself why you want more confidence. Often this is where you will truly open up and tears may even be shed. GO WITH IT!  You might realise you want more confidence because you want to be able to coach your kids sporting team or to be a better role model. What if the reason is because you get out of breath walking long distances or going up stairs? Then maybe your goal isn’t actually weight loss, it could actually be increased cardiovascular fitness.

HOW? - How are you going to achieve it?

This step in itself is the most poorly done and most commonly missed step in creating goals and is in fact a goal within itself. I often ask: “how are you going to achieve X?” The usual remark is by turning up, eating better, exercising more. This is too broad to truly be actionable. Let’s break this down with the most common goal of weight loss. How many times will you exercise a week? What are you going to do? For how long? It could be to accumulate 300 mins of exercise (what the exercise science world deems as required for weight loss) through 3 x 60 minute resistance training classes and 4 x 30 minute walks/runs a week. Now at the end of the week you can either say YES I achieved it or NO I haven’t. The more you say YES to this step the closer you are going to get to your goal.

GOALS don’t have to be scary or have 3 million different steps. Set your WHAT? Find your WHY? And work out your HOW? Share it with other people to keep yourself motivated and accountable.

GOALS don’t have to be scary or have 3 million different steps. Set your WHAT? Find your WHY? And work out your HOW? Share it with other people to keep yourself motivated and accountable.

If you need any more information on this don’t be afraid to email me, I’d be honoured to help you make it rain ticks in 2021. Now go get ‘em Tickinator.