How to Create Goals That You Can Actually Achieve

Goal-setting is an absolute must for people who want to live life to their fullest potential. Without clear goals, you will not have a clear direction on where you’re heading in your life and what you would like to accomplish. Goals are a declaration of what is important to you and a statement of what you want your life to look like. Without clear goals, you will not have a clear plan on where you’re heading in your life. Without clearly expressed goals you don't have a clear plan.

"If you fail to plan , you are planning to fail." - Benjamin Franklin

A common problem with goal setting is they are often very vague and not well thought out. Proper goal setting is one of the most important things you will ever do in your life. Understanding the importance of your goals and the impact they can have on you and your family is one of the most important factors to take into consideration when setting your goals.  

‍Your Goals Are A Big Deal!

‍They are your proclamation to yourself about what is important to you and the life you want to live. You need to attack these goals as if they are the most important thing in your life, because it is your life. You don't always get a redo and sometimes the damage from not achieving your goals can't be undone. So take this seriously as if your life depended on it!

So, how are you going to create goals that LAST and allow you to create true change?

1. Discover your “WHY” and tap into that emotion.

Instead of “I want to lose weight,” try “I want to feel healthier and happier in my own skin this year by losing at least 20 pounds.” Rather than “getting healthier,” be very specific and hone in on your true desire here—maybe you want to start eating better so that you can avoid a chronic disease that runs in your family, start working out again so that you maintain a youthful body that feels good, or a combination of the two to simply feel more alive and energetic in your daily life!

Stay with me here, I want you to dive a little deeper into your Why.

• Think about your core values- what are they?
• What do you care most about in this world?
• How do your goals or resolutions relate to these values?

When you find the deeper meaning of a goal and knowing that it relates to your core values you are more likely to stick to the goal.

EXAMPLE:

Initial Goal: Jen wants to lose weight and reduce diabetes medication

Values: Jens cares most about her children and husband. She values life enjoyment, dependability and relationships.

Relate: Jen wants to reduce her medication so she can liver longer to see her children get married and go on new adventures with her husband.

2. The second part of this is action step is to VISUALIZE yourself achieving these goals.

Your mind is the most powerful part of the body. You can think your way to failure or you can think your way to success.  If you want to lose 10lbs to feel more confident then visualize yourself in that confident way. What does your life look like? What behaviors do you do when you are being confident?  Visualize those things and soon your actions will resemble it.

If you can’t see yourself achieving these goals perhaps they are too big to start with. Trying making the goals smaller and more maintainable and visualizing yourself doing those first. Make this a daily habit, almost like a mediation practice or morning ritual. Every day spend a few minutes visualizing your life different, one where you are achieving these small action steps. It will get easier to achieve your goals because your mind is so used to what that looks like, that your body will follow.

3. Which leads me to our third part, be SMART and SPECIFIC.

Visualize the big picture and where you want to be in a year but start by making a smaller goal you’d like to achieve by the end of the month. Make it SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound) For instance you might want to work out more. Your goal might be 3 times a week, set an alarm 1 hour earlier and leave it across your room so are sure to get up. Get your gym clothes ready the night before and have a plan for the gym. These are specific steps that set you up for success.

This type of planning sets you up for success!

4. Even if you’ve connected to the truest intention and motivation behind your goals, prepare for FAILURE- our final step.

Failure happens, so don’t be surprised by it or view it as the ultimate setback—we cannot be perfect 100%  of the time. Winston Churchill once said, “success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. You are going to fail, but when you do, fail forward…”

Visualize instead how to overcome your failures instead of beating yourself up. Ask yourself what you can learn from it in order to avoid the same mistake again or how you could simply do better next time. Perhaps you may need to shift your goal to be more realistic or attainable, or refocus your action steps so that they work for you in this moment now. Use that as motivation forward, knowing that you are getting closer and closer to your goal, and that you are indeed growing better by the day. Be driven by this optimism rather than any minor defeat, and you will always have positive momentum forward.

As you think through your intentions for the New Year, take an extra moment or two to connect first with the feeling you want to create in the year ahead. How do you want to feel? Why do you want to feel that way? Then, formulate your goal(s) and small action steps that you can begin to take now to move you closer to that feeling. Once you’ve connected with this kind of meaning, there will be no stopping you!

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5. Get Connected.

You’ve made your goals, set a strategy…but as the days go by…you have yet to implement your plan of action.

The actual work of carrying out your plan from beginning to end alludes you…and you’re quickly starting to see that you’re spinning your wheels and still in the same predicament the last time you set your goals.

There may be many reasons why you haven’t been able to implement your plan or reach your goals.  However one of the best ways to ensure success is through connection and accountability.

Accountability happens when you align yourself with a group or an individual who has been down the road you are wanting to travel. It's what separates the successful from those who fail. Research has shown people who have connection with a group or individual coach are 65% more likely to accomplish their goals. Connection and accountability is the premise of groups like alcoholics anonymous (AA), and led to hundreds of thousands of people achieving the goal of sobriety. AA is full of people who have successfully navigated the road to recovery and are willing to share their journey with others in need of help.  The AA program is very well thought out, it has a structured process in which they help people using the 12 steps model and weekly meetings. They help hold people accountable by providing chips for different milestones of sobriety. The structure, accountability and the connection of AA are tools we can use to develop our goals and game plans.

Evaluate your priorities and your goals and then ask yourself "who would be best to help support me in this journey?" If you are looking to improve your physical fitness you could hire a personal trainer or join a group exercise class. If you are looking to improve your health naturally and are struggling for answers, you could look for help from a Functional medicine clinic, like ourselves.  Make sure whoever you choose that they have a systematic process and a track record of helping their clients regain their health. Do your research and make sure the person or people you are selecting have spent the time to create a systematic approach, and have built in accountability to ensure you get the best support you will need.

Our team at Integrative Wellness Centers is ready to help you end the cycle of failure! Our team will help you create goals with intention and purpose, teach you exactly how to work towards them, and help you stay on track to achieve success. Using advanced testing, nutrition and lifestyle coaching, we’ve got your goal-setting covered! Give us a call anytime to schedule a free consultation or speak with a member of our team, we are always here to help and hope to see you.

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