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Before we power on with todays show (which is Part 2) on 3 Keys to: An Anti Goal Setting Approach To Your Ideal Year.

I want to emphasize that by I.D.E.A.L I do not mean Perfect. Or Best.

I mean Just-Right-Awesome for YOU… whatever just-right-awesome looks like to you.

I’m sure one persons ideal involves sleeping in till 10am, playing hours of bridge before going out to dinner and theatre in the evening. And that one person would likely find my ideal as Intensely-Disappointing-Excrutiating-And-Labourious as I would find theirs!

My point is YOU are unique. So your ideal is unique.

As you may have guessed I’m also getting my acronym on again today – so I.D.E.A.L. also means:

I.ndividual.

D.reams.

E.volution. 

A.ligned.

L.ifestyle.

I cover each in detail in the 361 show. For now let’s recap Key 1 that’s…

One: Acknowledge What You’ve Rocked At This Year. (the things to CONTINUE)

To be specific: I’d love you to decide on 3 things – so far as achieving your body gain goal – that you rocked at and that you’re committed to continuing.

Lock and load those 3. It’ll keep you confident and focused on the progress you have made. It’ll also make you a whole-HUGE-lot less inclined to give up on your progress / good habits.

And now to get rolling with Key 2….

Two: Evaluate What Didn’t Work. (the things to STOP and Let Go Of or START and find Obstacle Obliterators for)

So perhaps here you need to take yourself back to the beginning of last year. To bring to mind everything you wanted to achieve.

So to be specific: Out of the things you said you wanted to do and didn’t… Which still rank high on your list? Which do you need to let go of?

Those ‘cut and paste’ goals that you didn’t achieve – just carrying them over from last to this year is an energy and confidence suck. Either it’s time to;

A) STOP andlet go of a goal – because when you’re honest – you’d be super willing to accept results without effort yet notso committed to the challenge and to evolving as you persist through inevitable struggle-street times. OR,

B) START andfind 3 obstacle obliterators in advance.

Here’s how it might look.

Let’s take my goal of weekly interviews on my Podcast. I’d like to do it. I’m convinced of the value. I just didn’t make it happen this year. So it’s not something to STOP aiming for. It’s something to START.

Knowing that there will be obstacles here are a few obstacle obliterators:

1). The Mindset Maneuver.

So this might be…

=> A crafty pleasure or pain based reframe to make it more likely you’ll continue when faced with an obstacle:

“An interview (or workout!) is a privilege to be appreciated rather than a task to endure.”

“An interview (or workout!) skipped is proof that my goal is not that important to me.”

=> A useful complex equivalent (all this involves is assigning this MEANS this to a statement or thought):

“Each interview (or great one ingredient meal!) means huge momentum towards attaining my goal.”

“Each interview (or great one ingredient meal!) skipped means it’ll be disproportionately tougher the next time.”

2). The Accountability Advantage. 

So this might be…

=> Hiring a coach / or a personal trainer / or joining a forum with an accountability thread.

=> Committing financially by paying in advance. Although generally I prefer to hold myself accountable, with things I’ve put off repeatedly I find hiring a professional who needs me commit to a set time and who charges an amount that’s a little uncomfortable is hugely effective accountability.

3). The Helpful Habit. 

So this might be…

=> A set non negotiable schedule. That you stick to whether you feel like it or not.

=> Piggy-backing a new habit on top on something you already do consistently. So perhaps if you never miss you favourite podcast / T.V show / sports team – however about reserving that listening/viewing time for only when you can also be exercising?

4). The Freedom of Flexibility. 

So this might be…

=> Brainstorming 10 different solutions and trying one (!) before giving up when the first way doesn’t work.

=> Asking 5 different people how they outsmart / out-plan / and stay malleable when an approach doesn’t (or stops) working.

Now I’m sure you can come up with a few more – alliteration is all-important though ok? 🙂

Three: Resist Setting The Bar Unrealistically High. 

There’s a lot of goal setting material out there that focus’s on every single area of your life in which you set goals. Perhaps 10 areas…. and within each smaller goals. At this point I’m going to say there is not right or wrong however if the thought of improving every aspect of your life sounds equal parts exciting and OVERWHELMING then how about scaling it back to 1-3 areas?

If you hit your goal earlier and easier than you expected there’s no rule to say you can’t then move your focus to the next most important area.

As I covered in show #332 I believe Balance Is A Myth.

Anything you’re yet to achieve. That you’ve tried and struggled with previously. That is really important to you is going to take more than a perfectly balanced, reasonable, carefully planned and plotted period of time and amount of effort.

It’s going to demand more of your time and energy than you’d love. It may not be all-consuming ALL the time… however I genuinely believe it’ll seem that way some of the time. That’s why I’m a fan of lowering the bar so far as the number of goals you’re working towards at any given time.

Conspire for your success… rather than laying the foundation that encourages you to give up before you even try.

To get nice and specific so far as lowering the bar we’ve covered point A) that’s…

A) Scale back to 1-3 areas / goals to work on at a time. Let’s move onto B) that’s…

B) Focus on the rights actions rather than results.

I 100% guarantee if you take the right actions, consistently, for long enough you WILL get to enjoy the results.

However obsessively stalking your results… weighing yourself daily OR expecting your body to respond as rapidly as it did 20 years ago… or as fast as that friend of a friend’s body maybe-Possibly-LIKELY-DIDN’T respond is setting yourself up to fail.

The right actions will give you the right results. It might be more slowly than you would love however you will get to keep those results. (and that maybe-Probably-LIKELY-CANNOT be said for that friend of a friend!)

Finally…

C) Book in mini-breaks before you need them.

This point is there for interpretation as resonates with you. For example,

=> If we’re talking food: Perhaps it’s the cheat meal you can rely on every week?

=> So far as exercise: It might be the rest day once a week?

=> Or my personal interpretation relates to every aspect of your life and Your Ideal Year: It’s the holidays (or even long weekends) you commit to once a quarter to rest, relax, refresh and come back super focused to power onwards.

Talking of powering onwards we must be at the time of the actionable. Let’s revisit Key 2….

Two: Evaluate What Didn’t Work.

Out of the things you said you wanted to do and didn’t… What is ONE thing that still ranks high on your list?

Something to START and find 3 Obstacle Obliterators to aid in the starting and the maintaining?

So to recap those obstacle obliterators were:

1). The Mindset Maneuver.

2). The Accountability Advantage. 

3). The Helpful Habit. 

4). The Freedom of Flexibility.

That’s it for me today. Cheers for hanging with me!

I hope you can join me for the Friday FAQ show. I’m covering: Less Is More.

If you liked this you’ll also like: 5 Crucial Criteria for Weight Loss Goal Setting… and Getting!

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.