Goals Done Right

Goals are something that are so important, but often overlooked. In our office, we always tell every patient that they are important because “you can’t hit a fuzzy target.” However, setting goals is sometimes done in a way that isn’t as beneficial as it could be. Today, I want to give you a few ideas of how you could improve your goal setting in order to maximize their efficacy. 

Make It Objective

Sometimes we set goals that sound like, “I want to lose weight.” Or maybe, “I want to start running.” While this isn’t a terrible place to start, if we make it more defined and measurable we will have better outcomes.

You need to set goals that can be measured objectively. It should be set in a way so that anyone could show up at your deadline and tell you if you met your goal or not. Below are a couple examples of some common goals that people set and then how they could be improved.

“I want to lose weight” becomes  “I want to lose 15lbs”

“I want to start running” becomes “I want to run a 10k”

“I want to eat healthier” becomes “I want to eat a keto diet”

Set A Defined Deadline

As we said above, goals need to be defined. However, we also need to define a deadline. This deadline needs to be super specific and it needs to be ever present so that we keep it at the forefront of our minds. 

One of my favorite ways of doing this is using reminders in my phone so that I can be reminded daily (sometimes multiple times a day) of what it is that I am aiming at. Below is me adding to our above goals that we have already started.

“I want to lose 15lbs” becomes “I want to lose 15lbs by December 31st, 2022”

“I want to run at 10k” becomes “I want to run the Adjusted Life 10k on October 20th, 2022”

“I want to eat a keto diet” becomes “I want to eat a keto diet for the entire month of October 2022”

You’re Not A Liar

At least I hope you’re not. Our brains do not like us to be liars either. They like us to be right. Our brains want us to be right to the point that they will convince us that we are correct, even if we are wrong. People can even tell a story with a few white lies in it, then after enough times of telling the story they start to believe it is actually true. It is called confabulation. 

How can we use this to our advantage? Well, if we tell our brains that something is already happening, it will do its best to make sure that it is so. We will add to those goals that we have already started from above.

“I want to lose 15lbs by December 31st, 2022” becomes ”I lost 15lbs by December 31st, 2022”

“I want to run the Adjusted Life 10k on October 20th, 2022” becomes “I ran the Adjusted Life 10k on October 20th, 2022”

“I want to eat a keto diet” becomes “I ate a keto diet for the entire month of October 2022”

In Closing

Goals are so important and yet so many of us neglect them, think they are a waste of time, or don’t stay committed to them. However, combining the above techniques above will help an enormous amount with reaching whatever health goals you have. 

Leave your goals in the comments below or let us know how we can help you reach your goals.

 

With Fortitude