How to write goals you can actually achieve.

When we think about our “goals” we usually envision these HUGE and things we want to accomplish, right? We want to buy a house, we want to lose weight, we want to make more friends, we want to volunteer more, etc. But when we don’t actually put those goals onto paper and make a realistic plan for how to actually achieve them? we are so much less likely to actually achieve them.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of “big goals.” Those ‘pie-in-the-sky’ kind of goals that you dream of to yourself… and then your feet hit the ground and you think, “man, I think I’m actually crazy.” But those are the goals that show us the things we really actually want. Ask yourself, “what do I want more than anything else when it comes to my health?” and then WRITE IT DOWN. Even if it sounds crazy.

Now that you have that goal written down… for sake of example, maybe you said you want to lose ‘a ton’ of weight. What is it going to TAKE for you to lose that weight? how are you going to measure it? How many pounds do you actually want to lose? What’s your time frame? Is any of this actually possible anyway?

Now, you know you’re going to have to eat differently somehow… exercising is probably going to be a must… right? But if you just say to your friends “I’m going to just lose a quick a ‘bunch of weight.’ BRB.” They would laugh at you because you and they BOTH know that that’s going to take a lot of time, dedication, thoughtfulness, and discipline over a long period of days, weeks, months and years to achieve it.

There’s a commonly used acronym to help people design good and tangible goals that will be a worth while pursuit:

First of all, I’d recommend you start working with a nutrition specialist and a trainer who can help you put together a program to help you achieve you goal of weight loss. She’ll give you a calorie count, macronutrient recommendations, foods to include, maybe some foods to exclude, and exercises and activities to do a certain number of times per week to result in a realistic, specific, measurable, and achievable number of pounds lost in a specific amount of time.

Let’s say I write you a plan for weight loss, based on your lifestyle, activity level, age, height, weight, biological sex, and other factors, Based on your biometrics we have set a total weight loss goal for you to lose 60 lbs total. To break it down to a weekly goal, I have created a plan for you to lose 1 lb a week. If you stick to our plan, we will expect to be down ~4 lbs in 4 weeks. Then every 1 month you can check in and expect to see an average of 4 lbs lost each month until a re-evaluation is needed.

But then let’s say that we have this 60 lb goal with these realistic process goals of losing 4 lbs in one month, but then you find that you’re really struggling to meet your recommended exercise minutes each week.

That is your most important process goal to focus on today.

Let’s say, I have assigned to you 30 minutes of exercise 6 days per week with 3 days of strength-focus and 3 days of cardio. But you’re finding that life keeps getting in the way and you need to figure out how you can actually get these hours in?? We need to first take another look at your schedule. Then we need to see if what we’re asking you to accomplish in one week is realistic for your stage or life, schedule, and the other demands on your time. Maybe something else in your schedule needs to go, or maybe we need to re-evaluate your current goals. But, if it actually is realistic to ask you to do 30 minutes of exercise 6 days per week, then here’s what we will do next.

I will have you write down on paper and post on your fridge, bathroom mirror, or by your front door (somewhere you see often), a chart where you will write this simple schedule out for yourself and track how well you did at actually accomplishing the daily tasks involved in getting you to your 4 lbs every 4 weeks goal. We have broken up your monthly goal into small achievable daily goals and now you’re going to focus on prioritizing and completing those daily tasks (along with consuming the nutrition macronutrients and calories and variety of foods recommended).

Let’s say that you thought it was totally realistic for you to exercise 6 days per week for 30 minutes each day. But as you kept trying to keep this schedule you realized you didn’t actually factor in enough time to drive to the gym, shower, and drive to work. Maybe we need to change your workout schedule, create home workout options for you, or adjust something else.

This is so unique to you and your individual situation. Sometimes, if we can’t find a way to make this schedule work, we will go back to the drawing board and re-analyze your nutrition, adjust your goals, and make some changes to your schedule in order to make room for real life to happen without discouraging you into thinking “this whole process is completely worthless anyway” and “what is the point.”

Anyone can work toward a goal, but working at a realistic pace for you, considering your real life circumstances is so important for everyone to do. It’s quite a bad idea to expect yourself to workout 6 times per week if that isn’t something you can do this year. Maybe next year. maybe LAST year, But our goals need to be realistic and achievable as well as specific, measurable, and time-bound.

This is probably the most important part of what I do. You might think that you can lose 2 lbs a week if you eat X number of calories because so-and-so app or best friend told you so. I’m here to calculate for you what is actually realistic, achievable, and healthy for you. NEWS FLASH: it is going to be different than your bestie or your spouse, or that other girl who uses the same app that told you both to eat 1200 calories per day and didn’t ask you if you exercised.

Goals that are actually realistic & achievable for you will be determined by a complex system of lifestyle, age, weight, height, biological sex, exercise energy expenditure, other activities, daily calories, macronutrients, and more.

Let’s discover what a realistic set of goals for you would be FOR YOU. Schedule a free consultation today so we can work together to create a custom movement and nutrition plan to help you write goals you can actually achieve and feel really good about.

You can stop wondering if your goal will ever be possible for you anyway and start working on small daily tasks that will help you achieve these big dreams I know you have. Don’t hesitate. Maybe talking to me is your first little process goal toward realizing your big dream.

I don’t know about you, but I think you’re worth it.