Success in Reaching Your Goals

Can you believe 2014 is here already?!  I hope you had a great year, and I further hope that you’re looking to make the coming year even better!  One good thing that many people do is to use the new year as a time to set goals to improve themselves—this IS a good thing, IF we take these resolutions seriously and succeed.  Unfortunately, in many cases, our lofty goals are left unfinished and our resolutions are abandoned before a full month has even passed.  How can you separate yourself from the masses and actually achieve your plans for growth in 2014?

If you have the desire to live healthier, improve your finances, grow in your spiritual walk, or any other goal for living a more rewarding and successful life, take advantage of your desire by applying the most significant key to success in fitness or any other area of life:  adopting new habits.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Take a simple example of a short-lived new year’s goal of losing weight.  One’s natural inclination after a whole December (or whole 2013) of overeating and inactivity is to overcorrect.  We think that to even out big meals over the last several weeks, we should break our year-long fast of jogging by running 5 miles.  We take the high enthusiasm to get fit and convert it into a short burst of high activity.  But we tend to neglect a few important steps.

The Big Challenge:  Change

First, we fail to recognize that adopting a new routine involves one of the most difficult things there is:  changing one’s habits.  One big mistake at this point is that we try to accomplish this feat alone.  Accountability is absolutely essential to get into and stay with the routine of working out regularly, week after week.  Find a friend who has success in the area you’re pursuing growth in.  Decide how often and for what duration you will connect for accountability and encouragement, and specifically what goals you will pursue.

Write it Down

This leads right into the second necessary step for getting and staying fit:  setting goals and writing them down.   Make sure your goals are  specific, measurable, that they have a due date.  For example, if your goal is to get in better shape, the following goal serves as a good example.

I will improve my one-mile run time to below 7:00 minutes and lose 10 pounds by February 15.

To accomplish this, I will exercise for 20 minutes, three times per week using the ThriveFit program.  I will write down my workout results every day, and email a weekly report every Sunday evening to my fitness mentor to seek his feedback.

Instant Feedback

Notice how this is a specific plan with set dates and times and clear markers to shoot at.  The reason this is such an important step is that it gives you a standard to measure yourself against for immediate feedback should you start to falter.  Without this plan, you’ll tend to let your habits slip little by little as the days go by, until you are left back where you started, and with a vague sense of dissatisfaction with yourself.  With clear goals and a specific schedule to reach them, you’ll know immediately when you’re getting off course.  In addition to that, the goal or dream that you’ve identified will help motivate you on the days when you don’t feel like doing the work.

Let Us Help!

Remember, changing habits is hard, and our aim is to create good long-term habits for a better life.  Don’t kill yourself on the first day such that you can’t move tomorrow.  Keep your focus on identifying and executing effective and sustainable habits.

Our ThriveMart store has a wide array of great products to support you in a healthy and successful life.  Just comment on our facebook page or send us a message and we’ll help you identify the right products for you.  And as always, be sure to check back with us each week for motivation and encouragement along the way—we’re here to help you thrive!