How to Create Goals and Stick to Them
Choosing the right goals and sticking to them is harder than you would imagine, there’s actually a science to it. People often struggle with reaching their goals for a few different reasons.
In this article, I’m going to teach you how to choose the right goals for you and I’ll explain the mindset needed to accomplish them.
You will be able to use these methods to create and stick to goals for the rest of your life.
It doesn’t matter if you have fat loss goals, strength goals, business goals, or financial goals, by the end of this article you will know how to organize them so you can be more efficient in sticking to them.
Table of Contents
Realistic Goal Setting - How long should it take to accomplish your goals?
How to Analyze Goals - Can goals change as time goes on?
The Different Kinds of Goals - Objective-based goals VS Action-based goals.
Habit Stacking - How to use current habits to accomplish new goals.
Realistic Goal Setting
People tend to overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in five years.
This is a simple but powerful statement that puts things into perspective.
Most of us think that when we set a goal or a New Years’ resolution we have to accomplish it within that year and if we don’t then we are a failure
That can’t be further from the truth. The truth is, there is no timeline for when you have to accomplish a goal.
The beginning of a year is a great time to set a goal. But some goals may take 4 months, some may take a year, and some goals may take even longer than that.
It depends on the goal, your lifestyle, the circumstances of the world, and more.
Learning how to speak a new language will take longer than traveling more.
Losing 20 pounds and quitting smoking will not take the same amount of time.
There is no set timeframe that any single goal needs to be accomplished by
Setting realistic expectations is just as important as the goal itself.
When you are setting your goals make sure to write them down and do it in a place with no distractions.
Go to your favorite coffee shop or park and write down your goals for the year.
Create a peaceful environment that you want to be in when you write down your goals. Play your favorite music and set up some soft lighting.
Writing your goals down will give you the ability to clarify and analyze them.
How TO ANALYZE GOALS
An important aspect of accomplishing your goals is to analyze them throughout the year.
It’s not a bad idea to choose a halfway point in the year to reassess your goals to see if they are still a priority to you.
In 2022 two of my fitness goals were to accomplish a 1-arm handstand and to complete five Spartan Races.
Four months into the year I took a step back to analyze my goals and figure out what was important to me.
I was far more passionate about my endurance training and doing Spartan Races with my friends and community than I was about doing a 1-arm handstand.
I realized that I wasn’t going to be on a mountain in the middle of a Spartan Race and wishing that I did more 1-arm handstands. I was happy with my ability to do handstands for fun but the goal of doing a 1-arm handstand no longer served me.
So I set that goal aside and it allowed me to give more of myself to the goal that actually mattered to me. My ego wanted me to think I failed at a 1 arm handstand but I do not feel that way.
I accomplished some amazing feats through Spartan races and I left the race season feeling extremely fulfilled. And who knows, maybe I will revisit my goal for a 1-arm handstand someday. But for the time being, that goal no longer serves me. And that’s ok.
Pick a time about halfway through the year and reevaluate your goals. Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed if a goal no longer serves you and you want to let it go.
When you analyze your goals it’s important to distinguish if you are pursuing them for your benefit or the benefit of others.
There’s nothing wrong with a loved one having a shared interest in your goal but make sure you are setting your goals for the right reasons.
This bleeds into knowing your why.
If you know your why and you are staying true to yourself then it will be easier to keep going when things get difficult.
And things will get difficult. You will get knocked down.
The Different kinds of goals
People don’t fail because they don’t have goals, they fail because they have the wrong goals.
Most of the time you hear goals like I want to lose weight or I want to get stronger.
Those may sound like good goals and it does show motivation. But those goals are not specific enough and people will almost always tend to fall short of them.
You will understand how to set specific goals once you learn the difference between objective-based goals and action-based goals.
Objective-based goal: An objective-based goal is what you want to achieve. It’s vague and doesn’t have any action behind it.
Action-based goal: An action-based goal is what you have to do to accomplish something. Think of this as a to-do list.
It’s great to have the goal of weight loss but what actions are you going to take to get there?
If you want to lose 20 pounds your action-based goal is going to be to hit your calorie and protein targets every day.
You may want to get stronger but what are you going to do to make that happen?
If you want to build your upper body strength your action-based goal is going to be to go to the gym 3 days a week.
I want to read more this year but that’s a pretty crappy goal. In order to shift that from an objective-based goal to an action-based goal I am going to read one page every single day.
Some days I will end up reading more than one page but I have to at least read one page every single day if I want to read more this year than I did last year. If I do that, I will succeed.
When you get specific with your goals you are going to enter into a new frame of mind to be able to take the necessary steps to start accomplishing them by checking things off your list to make them happen.
If you struggle with the concept of action-based goals, think about being more specific. Below are a few examples to get you started.
habit stacking
Habit stacking is the act of using a current habit to execute a new habit.
Specifically, you will piggyback your new habit off your old habit.
For example, as I mentioned above I want to read at least one page of a book every single day.
To make sure that I do that I am going to put my kindle on my pillow every morning after I make my bed. That way I can read at least one page when I get into bed each night.
My current habit that is already in place is making my bed every morning, the new habit that I am stacking on top of that is putting the book on my bed when I’m finished.
When I get in bed at night I won’t have any obstacles keeping me from my action-based goal.
If you want to start a workout routine then you can habit stack a few different ways.
After you brush your teeth at night you can lay out your yoga mat in your home workout space so it’s ready for you in the morning before work.
If you already take out your work clothes the night before then you can start laying out your workout clothes as well. That way when you get up you can throw on your workout clothes and get a quick workout in.
You can make this as simple as you want. After you brush your teeth in the morning, do 10 squats or 10 push-ups. Before you know it you will have done 280 squats in month and you’ll definitely be stronger than you were the month prior.
If you have dogs and take them for a walk every day then you can commit to doing 60 seconds of jumping jacks when you get home.
There are so many different ways that you can stack habits to make long-lasting changes and reach your goals. I think one of the best habit-stacking techniques that we can do to improve our health is to drink a glass of water every morning upon waking up.
Write down some current habits that you have and then analyze your current goals and see what you can stack together to help reach your goals. This is going to make your life much easier and it will remove the barriers that usually hold us back from accomplishing what we want.
It may not seem like getting out your workout clothes is a big deal but if you aren’t really up for working out it can be a huge obstacle. It’s so easy to just say, oh forget it I’ll work out tomorrow. But when you wake up and look at your workout clothes laid out they are going to stare right back at you and remind you of your why.
Wrapping up
We all start somewhere and there is no set time frame that you have to reach your goals. The only thing that matters is that you don’t give up. Creating small daily habits is going to be the key to your success.
Understanding the difference between action-based goals and objective-based goals is going to be a game-changer for you.
And if you feel like you are failing just remember, people tend to overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in five years.
In 5 years you will not regret starting and sticking to the goals that you set at the beginning of this year.
I believe in you 100%.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it helpful and from here on out will be able to set new goals with confidence. If you have any questions or need any additional assistance in your fitness journey then you can email me personally. I respond to every email within 48 hours.
Much Love,
PLD
