Tis the Season for Goal Setting

In the Trenches:

#6 12/4/12

Tis the season for Goal setting.

As we begin to look back on 2012 and look forward to 2013, it is the time of year where we assess how far we have come in achieving our goals, where we fell short, and setting new goals for the New Year.

Goal setting is crucial to success.  For without a goal, without a definitive destination, we will never know when we have succeeded.

But something we don’t discuss is that having a goal isn’t enough.  There has to be action in terms of changing behaviors in order to support that goal.

 

I challenge all of us during this holiday season to not just consider what our goals are going to be, but also, evaluate:

·       Did my behaviors match my goals?

·       If not, then why not?

·       What behaviors do I need to change?

·       If I’m not willing to change my behaviors then maybe I need to change my goals.

If we choose to keep our goals then how do we go about changing our behaviors?  Is it necessary to change everything at once or will a one step at a time approach be as effective?

Now I don’t know about you, BUT I know for myself, even though I know what I need to do to get to my goal of 18% body fat, I’m struggling to just go all in.  I know if I just bite the bullet, I’ll start to see great progress right away, but at the same time, emotionally I don’t think I could handle it.  I’m going to get angry and feel deprived and eventually I’ll just break and all my hard work will go down the drain as I revert back to my old habits.

So what’s a girl to do?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 
Albert Einstein 

Since as far as I know, I’m not insane, I may be a little crazy, but not insane,  I’m going to try something different, and if you find you are stuck, I challenge you to do the same.

I’m going to work on one behavior at a time. 

I’m going to start with something simple that I know will be easy to implement but make a big difference in my overall health.

I will do this for one week then implement something else.  If after a week I’m still struggling, I’ll give it another week until I feel that I have a handle on it before implementing something else.

My Goal for this week:

Drink more water: specifically drink 3 full 27oz. water bottles or 81 total oz.

This is probably the easiest behavior to start implementing.  Instead of taking something away, like giving up an after dinner treat or glass of wine.  I’m adding something.  I’m adding something that my body needs and will help me function at a higher level. 

Do I expect that just working on my water intake will cause me to lose weight or body fat this week?  Not necessarily, BUT I know by doing so, I am priming my body for what is to come, ensuring that it can function optimally.

If you would like to join me on this experiment, why not email me what your goal for this week will be.

We can all keep each other accountable.

I started this morning.

So far I’ve drunk 1 27oz bottle.  I only have 2 more to go.

I better get drinking.

So who’s in?