Reach Your Goals in 2017!

I’ve always been a goal setter, done it every January since I was in high school.  I’ve had years when I’ve met or exceeded 90% of my goals.  I’ve also had years when I met none of my goals.  You may ask why were you so successful some years and unsuccessful others.  The truth is it all totally falls on me.  From my failures I’ve learned a thing or two about being successful at goal setting and I hope these 5 things will help you as well.

3 Goals or Less

Never set too many goals. I’ve found that 3 goals or less is a good number if you want to be successful.  Never spread yourself too thin.  The real key to being successful is to figure out what big rocks (goals) are most important to you.  If it’s not a priority it will never happen.  Figure out what you really want to achieve this year and develop your goals around that life priority.  I’ve set a goal this year to put on 15 lbs. of muscle without adding body fat.  My training this year is totally geared to meet that end.

Take Daily Action

Develop daily objectives that move you toward the big goal. Same thing applies here as above keep objectives simple and limit the number to 3 or less.  Make them specific and measurable. Let me give you an example of an objective I’m using this year.  The objective states I will train one muscle group every day for at least 100 reps.  This objective is specific.  I train one muscle group every day.  The objective is measurable, 100 reps every day.  The objective is simple enough that it’s achievable and it moves me toward my goal every day.  The important thing to remember is objectives are not the big goals rather they are tiny goals completed every day that help you ultimately help you reach your big goals.

Do Some Research

Do your homework before setting objectives. Whether you know much about the thing you’re setting out to accomplish or not it’s always beneficial to do some research first.  By digging around and doing some reading it will do nothing but help the process.  More than likely someone has already accomplished what you’re setting out to do and their processes can help you achieve your goal much more efficiently sidestepping some of the landmines they stepped on reaching their goal.  In my quest for more muscle mass and less fat I read nearly 25 articles about how others were successful.  I simply took their processes and figured out how I could fit them in my schedule.

Track Your Consistency

Create a tracking and scheduling tool to keep you on track. Develop a simple tool or find an app that can be used to schedule what you need to accomplish each day.  Having a daily plan written out will help you stay on track and will provide a sense of urgency each day to get those things completed.  In addition, it provides a way to track your consistency and helps build confidence as you daily check off the list of things you’ve accomplished.  I have a calendar I developed in MS Word and it has my objectives for each day and I line through them as they are completed.  I can look back each month and determine how successful I’ve been at meeting my objectives which ultimately leads to goal achievement.

There’s More Than One Way To Skin a Cat Fish

Be flexible! Stand fast on accomplishing your objectives each day, however be flexible on how you get them done.  There’s always multiple ways to reach any goal.  In the pursuit of my goal I’ve already found that there’s never enough time in a day to do everything perfectly.  Some days I may have 20-30 minutes I can get my 100 reps, however on others not so much.  I have back-up plans that help me achieve my objectives.  Some days I may have 5 minutes and in those 5 minutes I will get as many reps as possible.  When I get 5 more minutes I will do more.  It may take 4 or 5 short bouts but I get it done.  Be flexible!

I hope this inspires you to sit down, do some research, write out your goals, write down some measurable objectives, and take action.  Determine what your priorities for 2017 are and get to work.  You may want to lose weight, improve your health, pay off debt, improve relationships, have quiet time every day or go back to school.  Whatever your goal is the 5 things listed above will help you stay on course and get there faster.  I can’t wait to see what you achieve!