Achieving Your Goal

January is a real opportunity to apply some well-needed changes to our lives. It’s the start of a new year so it becomes a fresh canvas for us all to achieve what we intend to fulfil. Some people will want to diet, some will want to get fit, some will want to take up a new hobby. Whatever the intention, it’s crucial to know how to stick to it so that by the time February comes along, you’ve not already given up and burnt yourself out.

Being able to visualise your goals is essential in order to remind yourself what you’re aiming for and how you’re going to achieve it. For example, if you want to go on a diet do you just decide to buy less ready-meals and ‘see how it goes’ or do you write down your ultimate goal that’s specific to how many pounds you plan to lose, when and how? Which do you think is going to be more effective? A plan is always better. 

Personally, I use the SMART format, however even just asking yourself ‘why you want to do this?’ and ‘how exactly you plan to achieve this?’ are two questions that will give your goal a real chance. Here’s the SMART format:

S – Specific – What specifically is your goal?
M – Measurable – How do you plan on measuring it?
A – Achievable – Will it be achievable over the week/month/quarter?
R – Realistic – Is this something you can realistically achieve?
T – Time – When will you achieve your target?

Whatever your goal or ambition for the year, make sure it’s something you want to achieve and that you’re doing it for yourself, not for the approval of other’s around you. 

My 2015 goal is to “maintain 7% Body Fat whilst building more muscle”. That’s my main goal, however in order to achieve that I need to break down my plan into a Monthly format. January  is specifically for detoxing (after all of the indulging at Christmas). Therefore I will write down specific points that relate to the January goal that reflect the overall 2015 one. 

By doing the same exercise that I’ve made and relating it to your own goal you are giving yourself a fighting chance of achieving what you’ve planned to do and will not have given up by the time February comes around.

I hope this post gets you thinking about your personal goals, don’t just let the time pass, seize the year and the opportunity before the time passes. Time is something that we can never buy or buy back.