Did you start the year with ambitious health goals just to find your motivation to achieve them fizzling out over the course of January?

You are not alone and I’m here to help you with that. In this post, I’m going to show you how you can bulletproof your goals with my 5-step method so they last the year and beyond!

Let’s start by checking in with ourselves. I want you to reflect on the past year in terms of your health and well-being. I’m guessing it was not the easiest year, but I want you to think about how you feel in yourself at this moment.

Do you feel satisfied with your health? Is there a habit you’ve been trying to give up but just haven’t got round to? Do you feel generally well? Is your lifestyle serving you and who you want to be?

The way I coach my clients is to take them from where they are now to where they want to be. So, let’s imagine what that would look like for you: Would you feel happier? Lighter? More well-rested? Stronger? More energised? More resilient? More confident?

Think: What do you want for yourself this year in terms of health, weight, wellness, fitness, mental health? Once you’ve got a clear idea of what that would look like, let’s look at the 5 steps for achieving your goals! 

Step 1: Connecting to your desires, wants and wishes.

To create a goal that’s going to stick, it needs to be based on more than just how you want to look or a number on the scale. When we create goals that actually reflect how we want to feel and we’re about to truly connect with our desires, we are able to form more meaningful purpose-driven goals that will continue to inspire us to work towards achieving them. 

Be honest with yourself about what you want from your future and try not to be intimidated by the fear of judgment or failure. It’s a personal process, so think about what achieving that goal would really mean to you. Try to turn down the volume on the inner voice that’s telling you you don’t deserve it or will never achieve it. Instead, tune into the part of you that wants the change and lean on that part to make it happen.

Step 2: Align your goals with your values. 

We often borrow goals from other people because we think that’s what we want for ourselves, but it’s important to make sure your goals are exactly that – yours.

It’s not always easy to resist the new year fads, the social media comparisons, and the latest fitness trends but the problem with borrowing goals from other people is that they won’t really be fulfilling our own needs and desires. You probably won’t connect with them because they don’t reflect your values and so you won’t be as motivated to work towards achieving them. 

Step 3: Turn your goals into a belief. 

Language is key when we’re speaking to ourselves! When we’re setting goals for our future selves, it’s important to use the right words so we can change it from a far-off hope into a belief.

It’s a simple trick but putting your future goals into present tense can be really powerful. E.g. If your goal is to lose weight by the end of this year, you’d change “I will lose weight this year” to “I’m in the process of (or even better “I’m learning to enjoy the process of…) taking better care of my body by eating more nutritious foods and moving my body more”.

This is called belief-building and it can also be helped by believing that change is possible for you. Our brains are quick to think of failures and we rarely take enough time to recognise our accomplishments but we’ve all made positive changes in our lives and we can do it again. 

Step 4: Find power in the process

We’re taught to always look forward to the end result but there is a lot of power simply in the process. Consistency is the part of change that we often find the most difficult but there is so much we can gain from simply making small incremental changes. It’s not glamorous but it does work when we stick to our goals and create an actionable plan for success. 

Step 5: Plan for success 

A goal without a plan is just a wish. Creating an actionable plan for reaching your goals is really important for keeping you accountable and making sure you’re not overwhelming yourself with too much at once. You won’t reach your goals with one big change, it’s the culmination of hundreds of tiny decisions everyday that help you work towards achieving your goals. 

Try either breaking down your big goals into incremental monthly or weekly checkpoints or focus on creating healthy habits and systems instead of constantly thinking of your big goals. 

Think you might need some support creating and sticking to your health and wellness goals this year? That’s what I’m here for! I help women transform their health & well-being, lose weight, reduce stress and find more balance by making themselves a priority and creating healthy diet and lifestyle habits they love.

I offer a free personalised weight-loss strategy call that you can use to figure out the right game plan for you going forward. Regardless of whether you choose to work with me or not, you will walk away knowing exactly what you need to achieve your health and weight-loss goals this year. Go ahead and book your call now.