Set Small Daily Goals to Achieve Success
Spring is officially here, which means we’re already a quarter of the way through 2014. Remember back in December when you swore this year would be different? When you promised yourself this was the year that you were going to be the healthiest you possible? How’s that going?
If you’ve fallen off the wagon, so to speak, don’t fret. The worst thing you can do is stop trying because you haven’t had the success you thought you would. Look at any success story and you’ll see a road littered with failures and disappointment. The difference between successful people and others is that successful people refuse to give up.
You have a choice: success or failure. It is a choice. If you choose to succeed, you’ve already taken the first step by envisioning yourself achieving your goal. If you don’t try, you’ve already chosen failure because you’ve eliminated the potential for success.
The next step is to clearly define a specific goal, whether long or short term. If you wrote down your goal at the beginning of the year, great! Now is the perfect time to reevaluate. If not, write it down now. Right now! Be as specific as possible. You can’t reach your destination if you don’t know where you’re going.
Let’s say you wrote down a goal to lose 30 pounds over the next 6 months. That’s a great goal, but it can seem really daunting. Think about how you are going to lose that 30 pounds and start setting smaller goals along the way. These goals will serve as your road map to your goal.
So a smaller goal might be to lose one to two pounds a week. That seems more manageable than thinking about all 30 pounds at once, doesn’t it? Now ask yourself how you’re going to reach that smaller goal of one to two pounds a week. The answer leads to even smaller and more specific goals. It might be, “I will work out 5 days this week,” or, “I will not eat any sweets this week.”
The best way to stay on track with your goals is to set at least one goal every day that you can do today. That might be, “I will get up right away when my alarm goes off,” or “I will do one more push-up than I did yesterday.” When you achieve your daily goal, no matter how small, you go to bed each night feeling one step closer to your long-term goal.
The more specific your goals, the easier it is to manage them and judge your progress towards your larger, long-term goal. You’re either accomplishing these goals, or you’re not. Checking this progress can help you adjust your goals where necessary and see what area needs the most focus. Maybe you make it to your workout everyday but then have trouble eating healthy in the evening. Set goals that focus on the things you generally struggle with.
