Like many, you may have set some fitness goals as New Year’s resolutions, but now that the year is past its first quarter, you may feel like you’re failing. To help you pick up and keep going, Men’s Health is offering some ways not to be a failure.
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From setting realistic goals that start modestly and build, to competing in various fitness programs or even marathons, adding variety and “spice” to your goals can help you reach the goal posts. If you need help with setting those goals, here are five ideas to get you going, or restarted, if you feel like you’re already failing:
1. Begin with realistic goals and write them down — Simply grab a journal, notebook or even a piece of scratch paper and get serious about spelling out your goals. If you have a lofty goal, write down how you can achieve it in steps. That way getting there not only will be easier, but less apt to fail. In a study conducted by Gail Matthews, a Dominican University of California psychology professor, it was revealed that people who wrote down their goals on a regular basis were 42 percent more likely to achieve them than those who did not.
2. Define and write down why those goals are important to you — If you are absolutely clear as to why you want to reach these goals, you will find a purpose and inspiration to continue on your journey toward them, be it eating a healthier diet or vowing to add exercise to your daily routine.
3. Work toward your goals consistently and deliberately — Sorry to say, haphazard participation is a recipe for failure. So, go back to No. 1 and set first-step goals that can get you energized and confidant in continuing the efforts it takes to achieve those lesser goals. For example, once you’ve successfully walked 5,000 steps a day, it’s much easier to add another 2,500 and then another 2,500 later, so by the end of the year you’re getting in the 10,000 steps a day you may have resolved to do.
4. Revisit your goals on a regular basis — No one can predict with certainty what they’re going to be doing in six months or a year. If at this point in the year, you feel like you’re already failing, it’s time to revisit your resolutions and tweak them in a way that can get you going on the right foot. Revisiting your goals and achievements and tweaking them, if necessary, on a weekly basis can help you be more successful in the long run.
5. When you feel like you’re failing, step back and try something different — If what you’re doing isn’t working, it’s possible you need to reevaluate what you’re doing. Take a look at the goal and analyze why it is you can’t seem to get moving toward it. Sometimes you may find your motivation is waning, or you’ve become stuck and unsure of where to go next or, for whatever other reason you’ve stalled on your progress, you are back where you started.
It’s the “sticking to them” part that is hardest about goal setting, and this is an area where the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can be invaluable. EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture for more than 5,000 years to treat physical and emotional ailments, but without the invasiveness of needles.
Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem and voice positive affirmations.
Once you get back on track, you may want to think about keeping your goals confidential and not sharing them, even though many motivation counselors advise just the opposite. If you do decide that sharing is important to you and will help, share only with others who are committed to achieving goals of their own and who really want you to be successful and achieve your goals as well.