Do you find
yourself making the same resolutions ever year just to break those resolutions
within the first month or two? It doesn’t matter if this is a fitness regimen,
to start or stop doing something or to just to finish something you keep
putting off. Anytime you start something new or even if you've been at it for a
while, you need goals. Goals don’t just give you something to aim for - they
are also a good way to measure your results and your progress.
Here are some
tips to help you with setting goals:
1) Be realistic. If you haven't been very active
over the past few years, it's unwise to plan for a marathon in four weeks. Your
goals need to be just beyond your current fitness level so you have something
to strive for. From time to time you will want to push yourself, but never set
a goal that is beyond your reach.
A realistic
goal for someone who hasn't been working out is to start off with half a mile
or a mile. A mile should take you about 15 minutes at a steady pace. For
beginners, that's a great start. You can add half-mile increments every week or
every two weeks.
If you
house is cluttered, it is not realistic to expect yourself to clean out the
entire basement in one weekend. Set smaller goals to clean one section.
Setting and
accomplishing smaller goals will help keep you motivated to reach your end
goal.
2) Set your own goals. Never set a goal because someone
else is or because you think someone else wants you to. This is about you, not
them. It doesn’t matter what the goal is, whether it’s your health, your home
or your career, it has to be something you want.
3) Be sure you want it. When you set a goal make sure it's
something you want and are planned to work for. Like mentioned above, you don't
want to set a goal for yourself because someone else wants you to do it. You
have to want it for yourself. Setting a goal that isn't personal to you is a
sure way to not reach it. You will come to despise any goal that isn't
something you want to reach for yourself.
4) Set small daily or weekly goals. If five minutes is all you can
manage on your workout, do it. That's five minutes you didn't spend sitting on
the couch. Plan to add one minute each day. If that seems too much after a few
days, then add one minute every other day. Likewise, in decluttering, if one
shelf is all you can manage in one sitting, do it. That is one shelf that will
be clean the next time you come to it. Find what works for you and do it.
Baby steps
are key when implementing something new. We don’t expect our children to learn
to walk overnight. When something is overwhelming, breaking it down into small
attainable goals you can achieve will help you stay on track.
5) Set a bigger monthly goal. This should not be a huge goal but
something you can reach if you push yourself a little more. Set this goal to
ensure that twice a week you do more than your daily routine. This will help
build endurance and stamina. It will also help you add those extra minutes a
little faster.
Goals are
important in life. You may want to use something referred to as SMART goals.
This means your goals should be:
Specific - The more specific your goal is, the
easier it is to work towards. Instead of wanting to lose weight, set a goal of
wanting to lose ten pounds.
Measurable - Your goal needs to be measurable.
That's another reason it should be specific. You can't keep track of wanting to
lose weight, but you can keep track of how much of that ten pounds you've lost.
Attainable - If your goal is way out there, like
wanting to lose thirty pounds in thirty days, that's not very attainable. A
more reachable goal is to lose ten pounds in thirty days. That may not seem
like a lot, but it can be measured and attained.
Relevant - Your goals should be relevant to
what you want to accomplish.
Timely - This means it needs a deadline. You
need a time frame to work with. Wanting to lose ten pounds is great, but if you
don't put a deadline on it, it could take you months to reach. Instead, give it
a due date so you can keep track of it.
I know this post may seem a little late for tips on setting goals or resolutions for this year. But, here is the really great thing about goal setting. WE CAN start over at any time and reset those goals to make them better and more on track with what we want. So if you set resolutions for this year that have already been broken or just need to be tweaked. Now is the perfect time to readjust those goals to what we really want and make them realistic for where we are!
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