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Have you ever set goals to crush at the start of the year only to lose motivation for them before February? You are definitely not alone. There’s a reason there are so many New Year’s resolution meme’s out there. The cynics will tell you that resolutions are a waste of time, but I don’t think so. If you’re struggling to achieve those goals you likely just need a better system in place. I’ll help you set goals and crush them like a boss with a few small tweaks.
Why Goals are Important To Us
First lets consider why we even set goals in the first place. While it might seem like it would be a lot easier to ignore them and float through life on a cloud of hope, that won’t get you where you want to be. Most of us have an idea of what brings us happiness and what our ideal life would look like, but getting there takes some work and dedication. Knowing what you want and knowing the path the get there are two very different things. That’s why having goals to work towards are important. It makes a task that initially seems insurmountable, more achievable. When we makes goals and achieve them, we can tangibly see ourselves moving closer to our ultimate destination.
Our ideal version of our self is often aspirational and setting goals help us to identify areas of our life that aren’t yet congruent with our ideal self. Through setting and crushing goals, we can bring our identity into alignment with our ideal version of our life.
The Secret To Setting Goals
We all want to be able to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, but how often do we have clarity on why it’s important to us. Consider the goal of wanting to run a marathon, which is pretty common. It’s an admirable goal that when achieved would bring immense pride. But how does that link in with your core values and vision for life? While this might seem a little bit over the top for a simple New Year’s resolution, its really is the secret weapon to crushing that goal.
If simply ‘losing weight’ is the reason behind this goal, how likely are you to cave in when it’s cold and windy outside at 6am? There’s always tomorrow right? But now imagine that the reason you want to run that marathon is to get fit because one of your core values is spending time with your family. Your family is very active and on your up-coming family holiday, you want to have the stamina to hike up that mountain with your family and treasure those memories for life.
It’s a little more persuasive now isn’t it? Having a core value at the centre of your goal will help keep you motivated in the beginning. But what happens when that initial motivation wears off? Keep reading.
The Problem With Goals
You’ve set your goal to crush and you’ve got clarity on how it links with your core values. You’re definitely motivated in the beginning but then slowly that starts to fade as weariness sets in. What’s going on?! The problem with goals is that they can often be sabotaged by things outside of your control. Bad weather coming? Oh well that run can wait. Leaky roof needs fixing? That savings goal suddenly took a huge dent. When obstacles get thrown in our path, it can be very easy to give up.
That’s why every good goals needs to be supported by a series of habits. On it’s own, a goal requires thinking, effort and a whole lot of decision-making. But once you’ve got that habit locked in you no longer have to think about why you’re doing the task because it becomes automatic. Habits literally re-wire the brain to do things without any decision needing to be made. Willpower is no longer part of the equation.
So for the goal of running a marathon, we would break this down into a series of habits that will support this goal. That might look something like this:
- Set out running clothes and shoes before bed
- Do a dynamic warm-up before every run to prevent injury
- Have a fresh gym bag in the car at all times (for bad weather alternative)
- Do a weekly review of your performance data using a tracker like a Fitbit or Garmin
- Prepare breakfast and lunch the night before
Each habit supports the main goal. Once these things become automatic, you’ll be nailing those runs, preventing injury, prepared for obstacles, motivated by seeing progress and properly fueled. Learning how to build and maintain habits in place is a skill in itself. If you haven’t read Atomic Habits yet I highly recommend this book. It teaches how to set habits you can stick to using methods like habit stacking.
Once you have these good habits in place, you’ll also be more likely to stick with them long after the goal you set has been crushed. How’s that for a win!
What to do When You’ve Set Goals and Crushed Them
Most goals tend to have an endpoint. Some are short-term while others might take years, but it is super important to celebrate your wins along the way. When you crush a goal that you’ve been working towards, you want to signal to your brain that you’ve done a good job! The celebration will look different for everyone and might depend on the size of your goal.
If you’ve achieved your first 5km run without stopping, maybe you book in for a full body massage. Maybe you’ve just bought your first home and you choose to celebrate with dinner and drinks or a mini vacation. What’s most important is that your celebration is meaningful to you.
When the goal is complete & the celebrations are over, you still have your newly developed habits to support you with the next challenge. Building good habits is never a waste of time and often they become part of our identity for life. For instance, once you identify as a runner this might positively influence other areas of your life. You might decide to cut back on alcohol to improve your sleep and recovery. Plenty of studies support the idea that healthy habits definitely lead to a better quality of life. And who doesn’t want that?!
Final Thoughts
When we set goals and crush them, it helps us move in the direction of our ideal life. We train our brain to believe that what we want is possible. But goals need to be intentional with a clarity around their purpose in relation to our vision for life. Goals supported by strong habits are easier to attain because willpower becomes less of an obstacle.
If you’re planning your next goals now, download my free printable goal planning worksheet and habit tracker to support you on your journey. If you found this article helpful then please consider sharing!
[…] of the best ways to make a change is to set a goal and then start taking small, consistent steps in that direction. This approach encourages people to […]