Every year we dust off the old goal setting article, make a few edits and repost thinking it will be a great way for people to get the new year started on the right foot.
Don’t get me wrong, having a goal is important, but maybe it is time to try things a bit differently this year. So if losing weight is your “goal” for 2020, there are a couple of things to think about.
- If hitting that magic number is all that matters, then it doesn’t matter what you do to get there, you should just do it. Extreme diets, magic pills, juice cleanses, pretty much anything is on the cards if the number is the most important thing. Who cares about your health when it is the number on the scale that counts.
- If again, the main thing is the number on the scale, should we spend all our time on the scales, looking at our weight? If Liverpool are focused on winning their next game, should they stare at the score board, or should they be concerned about doing the things they need to do to win? The same applies for weight loss (I will expand later).
- What happens when we get to our goal? What then? Do we stop what we were doing? An example from James Clear’s Atomic Habits is appropriate here. If our goal is to have a tidy house and we proceed to clean it up, what then? If we go back to our old ways, then we are just going to go back to having a dirty and untidy house.
The point of all these is that to hit our goals we have to follow a process to get there. We need to regularly and consistently do the things we need to do to get us closer to our goals.
Maybe this year, instead of saying I am going to lose 10kg’s this year, maybe we should be focusing on the process to get there, rather than the end result.
Such as:
Once you've got these in place, you can then break them down further - HOW are you going to make sure you implement these things? The idea is not to be perfect, just better than before, no matter how small the changes.
Realistically, there will be days where we don’t hit these process goals, but the idea is to make sure you do not miss them twice. If today was bad, make sure tomorrow is on point. With a focus on the process, rather than on the weight lost, the things we need to do will become part of our normal. Not only will we get to our goals, but the things we needed to do to get us to the place we wanted to be will help keep us there in future. A happier and healthier you.