Goal setting is a powerful tool, whether applied to
one’s professional life, personal aspirations or health objectives. In
fact, goal setting can make the critical difference between success and
failure.
One obvious goal of many may be to simply stick to your
diet and/or exericse program in the context of a busy, overscheduled
daily routine, but effective goal setting goes far beyond this fairly
elementary ambition.
While life may seem out of control at times
and that you’re a passenger in life rather than the driver, remind
yourselg that YOU hold the greatest power of all – that is the ability
to design your own life. You can wake up every morning and decide to
exercise, lift your own spirit through positive affirmations, and eat a
nutritious breakfast, or you can choose other options that may be
detrimental to your emotional and/or physical health. Ultimately, the
decision is yours and yours alone.
Here are a few tips to make lifetime commitments through goal setting:
1.
Don’t compare yourself with anyone except your self. This is not about
winning or losing. This is about making your life better – whatever
that means for YOU.
2. Focus on the present – How will you feel
after your exercise session today? Will your ability to resist that
danish fill you with a sense of accomplishment?
3. Imagine the
results – literally. How you picture yourself is often a self
fulfilling proficy. Day dream in detail about how you would like to
look. Athletes picture themselves performing their event over and over
again in ther minds until they finally perfect it. If you see your self
as soft, sloppy, weak, tired, or stressed, this may very well become
yoru reality for just thinking it. Picture yourself standing tall
taking deep breaths, confidently striding forward as you approach life
head on.
4. Take small steps – they DO count! It’s impossible to
stop smoking, start drinking 64 oz of water, and exerising 5 days a
week. Start slowly, one attainable goal at a time. Begin with taking a
short walk and slowly work your way up.
5. Be patient – it make
take weeks before you start noticing you have more energy, your clothes
are fitting more loosely and you aren’t getting short of breath walking
up a flight of steps. When you do recognize these signs of achievement,
revel in the glory.
6. Put holes in your excuses. When you find
your self coming up with an excuse not to exercise, go back to the
reasons why you want to exericse in the first place. Put a stop to the
negative self talk and obstacle formation. Grab that mental sledge
hammer and break through!
7. Journal – If you do just one thing
related to goal seetting, begin journaling. Tracking your progress can
help you stay focused. Write down not only your goals, but what
exercises you did, how you are feeling and what small changes you are
noticing in your everyday life like, not being short of breath or
lifting something with ease, or having less pain. Writing your goals in
front of your journal would help you to review them daily.