Here’s a short article I wrote as a tool to use in coaching clients in the area of health and wellness.  Lifestyle change is a big undertaking, particularly when it comes to doing things that not only our minds, but also our bodies have momentum for in a different direction.  Enjoy the article below and make sure you are setting SMART fun goals!

Lifestyle Change:

Making a lifestyle change is a big step and quite often it takes more effort than one would originally envision. It’s common and perfectly normal to start a new program with a high energy and enthusiasm then to see that excitement fizzle over time.

Lifestyle change usually does not happen overnight, it’s a continual process of learning, building on successes, and working towards a clear vision. Designing a series of short term goals has a profound effect on keeping long term motivation. Isn’t it a lot more inspiring to train for a cancer walk in 3 months than it is to exercise 5x/week for ½ hour per day for the rest of your life?

How to Set Empowering Goals:

1. Make your goal SMART! Smart goals have each of the following attributes. If any of them are missing, then what you are designing is a wish and not a goal (and its much less likely to become a reality):

• Specific: A goal must be specific. If you’ve got a goal to be a better bicyclist, then how far or fast do you want to be able to ride? A vague goal leaves room for ambiguity and you won’t be clear on what steps to take to achieve it.
• Measurable: A goal must be measurable. If my goal is to ‘feel better’ how could someone else measure that success? You see that’s not possible. To contrast, it would be possible to measure a fasting blood glucose value after making dietary changes which could have the effect of feeling better.
• Attainable: A goal must be attainable. Am I setting myself up for failure with the goal I am designing? Is it really realistic to exercise 7x/week for the next 3 months? Perhaps 4x/week is a realistic start and will give me a sense of success when I complete it.
• Relevant: A goal must be relevant. Simply put – is the goal that I am designing something that is very important to me at this time in my life? If I design a goal without relevance, it’s destined to fail.
• Timeline: A goal must have a timeline. A goal without a date may get accomplished some day, but chances are it will get pushed out beyond the time frame where meaningful actions need to be taken today. For best results, your goal should be no longer than one year down the road, and it should be on a timeline that inspires action today!

2. Make it fun! Far too many people fail because their goals are not fun! For most of us losing weight, getting current with physicals, exercising regularly, changing diet etc., etc., etc., is not fun – yet it’s the goal we design. Embrace a goal that you love so that the actions, while they still may be the same, have an exciting outcome that you can look forward to. This inspiration is the source of personal motivation. Here are examples of fun items that can be crafted into goals:

Complete a dancing class, participate in an endurance event with a team, take a cooking class and make a wonderful birthday dinner for friends/family, hike in Yosemite Valley, do a distance walk for charity, build a cookbook of recipes you love, play in a tennis tournament, descend and climb the grand canyon… What would you love to do that would demonstrate your wellness vision?

How to Achieve your Goals:

Many books are written on this very topic and everyone has their own personal secrets to achieving goals. The following tips are some of the time tested methods proven to work:

1. Write it down! A goal that we don’t think about isn’t likely to happen. The best way we can remember our goal is to write it down and make it visible. Read it daily. Some studies say a written visible goal has more than a 90% likelihood of being attained!

2. Take small steps. A goal can be a big venture. Focusing on the goal itself can seem overwhelming at times. Break it down into small steps, and it becomes much more achievable in our minds eye. Consider what actions can be done this week, or maybe shorten it to one day. A goal is comprised of many small steps, focusing on these steps makes the goal much more attainable.

3. Enroll support. If you are participating in a coaching program, this is a terrific first step. You’ll also benefit by enrolling family, friends, acquaintances as a support network by building your accountability and by proving to yourself that you have a real commitment to succeeding at your goal.

4. Embrace a learning approach. If we’ve lived our life a certain way for many years and we are looking to make lifestyle change, recognize that we’ve built a momentum to live a certain contradictory way. Maybe we’ve got 30 years of momentum backing us! There will be days where you do not succeed and that’s OK! If things have not gone how you had envisioned ask yourself what you’ve learned from the experience. How can it be adjusted or tweaked such that you can build on the successes you did have? What were those successes?

5. Talk yourself ‘in’ to it. Its easy to talk yourself out of taking actions that lead towards a goal. Make the shift to talking yourself into the goal, do this by looking at the outcome as if it were here today. How will it be to cross that finish line, to look and feel a certain way, to celebrate with your support network? Constantly re-enroll yourself in the vision and the daily actions will be that much easier to attain!

What Happens when I Complete the Goal?

Completing a goal is a special event. You have accomplished something big and you deserve acknowledgement. The most important person that you deserve acknowledgement from is yourself! You’ve turned an idea into reality so celebrate the accomplishment! Make it a special occasion and treat to reward yourself, to bring closure to the goal and enjoy what you’ve done.

Upon completion of a goal you may notice a few things. Perhaps some of the habits you’ve established are particularly sticky. Maybe you long to exercise more often, to eat healthier foods, to ‘maintain’ all the exciting things you’ve been doing. Perhaps you are thinking about future goals already that will be fun and bring about even more joy! Or perhaps you need a break and you’d like to take a short time to enjoy your accomplishments. Use this experience as a learning opportunity – ask yourself what lessons you can draw from the experience you’ve had.

Depending on the lifestyle changes this goal has inspired, you may be happy with continuing on with the habits you have developed, or you may be inspired to take more action to re-invigorate your passions. Its perfectly acceptable to search for another goal, one that is in alignment with what is important to you right now as you have undoubtedly changed with your last experience.

…Please provide your comments on the most empowering goals that have worked for you in the past!

Be Well

Related Articles:  Coming Soon

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net