The key to consistent growth and improvement in life is goal-setting. But how do you set goals? And how do you stick to them? Here is our very own Top Ten for making – and keeping – your goals.
- Set big goals that challenge you.
It’s ok if your goal scares you a little. In fact, if your goal isn’t scary and exciting at the same time, your goal is too small.
- Accept that it’s going to be difficult.
If you accept the challenge of setting and pursuing big goals, then you have to accept that it’s going to be hard. Great achievements do not come easy. You know deep in your heart that getting in shape and staying in shape is not easy. If it were, everyone would have clearly defined muscles and six-pack abs.
- Set goals to become better than you used to be.
Let’s face it, many people want to win. Many people want to be the best. In sports and in many businesses, winning is the bottom line and will always be pursued. However, sometimes the best strategy is not focusing on winning, but on becoming better. Winning is often the welcome side effect.
- Set up if-then scenarios that trigger goal pursuit or prepare you for positive action when the going gets difficult.
An environmental trigger might be something like this: “When I see my running shoes on the chair in the morning, I immediately get on my workout clothes, put on my shoes and go for my run, even if I still feel tired. I’ll wake up fast once I’m moving and my blood starts flowing.
Or “If I get a craving for sugar, then I will pick some fruit like an apple, some grapes or a banana, which I always leave in my kitchen or carry with me through the day. This way I’ll stay on track toward my goal and I won’t go hungry either.”
- Set up your environment with triggers to “prime” your unconscious mind for goal pursuit
It might even seem a little weird at first when you realize how much your behavior is running on autopilot, but you can make this automation work in your favor by intentionally setting up cues in your surroundings that prime your subconscious to pursue what you want. The possibilities are endless, and include sounds, words, people, situations, even smells. Here are a few ideas:
Leave healthy foods on the kitchen counter; tack up motivational posters, signs or vision boards, put a motivating image on your desktop or screen saver, carry a goal card in your pocket, tape a printout of your healthy meal plan onto your refrigerator, Put your lifting belt or running shoes where you can see them before workout time or even change your commuting route to drive past the gym
- Surround yourself with people who are goal achievers – they’re contagious.
Find role models and expose yourself to as many people as possible who are going after goals that you also would like to pursue. For the relief of people who feel they are in a negative social environment at the moment, you don’t even have to know the people you are watching. Studies suggest that even reading biographies of successful people can have a positive impact.
- Build your self-control (“willpower”) muscles.
There are many ways to increase it. Conveniently enough, one of the best ways to build your willpower is to exercise regularly. Making the decision to work out and then doing it builds your willpower muscle right along with your physical muscles. On the other hand, if you don’t discipline yourself to do that which you don’t want to do, your willpower muscle will shrink, just like your physical muscles atrophy when they’re not trained.
- Get feedback and self-monitor.
Achieving a goal requires that you track your progress so you know how you’re doing at all times. If you don’t “keep score” and self monitor your progress, it’s like flying a plane without a navigation system – you could be off course and not even know it.
- Tap into your intrinsic motivations to maintain your achievement and increase happiness.
Money, prizes, and recognition are external motivators, and while these can be powerful incentives, they only motivate in the short term as long as those rewards are there. Long term motivation and goal achievement requires motivation that comes from within – INTRINSIC.
- Develop Grit.
Grit is passion and perseverance for your long-term goals, and that means maintaining effort and interest for years even if there are difficulties, disappointments and failures. Grit is the type of tenacity and resolve where you clench your teeth and push even harder when the going gets tough.
Conclusion: Write down your own goals, be specific and commit to them 100%.
Think long term. Approach your success like a marathon, not a sprint.
Don’t get distracted or change goals. Do not be a dabbler. Commit to it and stick to it until you get there.
Expect obstacles and don’t get discouraged by them. Understand that all setbacks are temporary and you can get through them or go around them.
When the going gets tough, you get mentally tougher and renew your effort.
Be willing to make sacrifices and work very hard every day for a very long time. Embrace and appreciate the work.
Adopt a growth mindset for life – believe that you can always get better.
We believe strongly at www.thebodycamp.com that unconscious goal pursuits is one of the most fascinating areas of psychology research. Once you realize that your brain is a cybernetic mechanism that is always working on some goal and guiding you automatically toward it, whether you set goals or not, this should light a fire under your bum to take responsibility and conscious control over the process. If you don’t, then rest assured, you are pursuing someone else’s goals….
Ricky Parcell
Master Trainer
