Do you have GOALS or WISHES?

A lot of people talk about their goals - what they want to achieve.

But without a plan of ACTION, a goal is simply a wish. You're just hoping it'll happen by chance without any effort.

A GOAL is something to WORK towards.

And to do that, you need to take action.

Goals have ONE purpose - to give you direction.

The key then, is to ensure you know what actions to take to move you closer to your goal.

When setting your goals, have the end in mind - what is it you want to achieve?

Then, use that outcome goal to figure out what actions you need to take to achieve that.

Once you have your actions written down, you can put the end/outcome goal to the side - it's kind of irrelevant now beyond using it for a bit of motivation.

What you need to focus on now, are your behaviour goals. The actions you need to take.

For example:

Your end/outcome goal might be to lose 2 stone in 1 year

You then need to write down exactly what you need to do to achieve that:

Don't drink alcohol during the week

Eat a freshly prepared meal 6 mights a week

When ordering takeaway or eating out, choose the healthiest option

Drink 3 litres of water per day

Train 3 times per week

And so on...

These are ACTIONS you can tick off each day, that will lead you towards your desired outcome. 

They'll change from person to person based on where you're at right now and your goal (this is just an example, not YOUR plan!), so make sure your actions are right for you.

A goal is utterly useless without a plan.

So, if you're guilty of saying you're going to do X, Y, Z, but don't actually do much to achieve it, this could be why; because you aren't sure what to do to achieve your goal.

Sit and figure out what you need to do, and start doing it.

As always, I'm here to help if you need it.

There's a section on goal setting in MoveBetter.Club - check it out when you join.

Mark