We are already over halfway through January. January is the month where traditionally we set goals, think up our dreams and have aspirations for the year.
Already this year I have heard and been involved in conversations where some refuse to set New Years Resolutions because ‘they never work.’
How about we ditch the term New Year Resolution and instead use the word Goals?
My questions about goals are:
- If you never set a goal, how do you know you have changed something/yourself?
- Is the ‘resolution’ or goal too big, too vague with no end in sight?
- Do you really want to change?
Going to point 2. If the goal (not resolution!) has no boundaries or end point and seems too far away the probability is that we will give up before we even get started.
The other extreme, and what this blog is about, is that we try too much too soon, trying to achieve everything too quickly and then cannot sustain the changes.
A very important part of our job as coaches coaching endurance athletes is to help the athlete master the skill of pacing. We use a term (and I do not know the origin of it) called “ going off too fast” i.e. the athlete sets a pace that is too fast to sustain over the duration of the event.
I got to thinking that this could be an issue for many of us when we set those January goals. We simply go off too fast. We try to go ‘all or nothing’ and then end up with nothing as we cannot sustain what we are doing.
Jimmy and I work with many of our clients to achieve healthy lifestyles and habits that they can easily sustain. We encourage clients to break down the goals into achievable steps (pacing) where they can measure their progress and success.
One of our amazing business partners, Kim, says that when she works with her health business customers she does not advise that they always begin new goals on a Monday because she does not want them to have the expectations and pressure that it brings! You can start any new challenge whenever you want. The key is to pace your journey with as small steps and as many steps as you need to get you where you want to be.
So to bring that story into our topic here, I ask this question. Did you start too fast this year and already feel defeated, or have you not set any goals because of the New Year Resolution failure belief?
I would like to recommend that you can still set some goals or review the goals you set and amend them into smaller more achievable chunks to help you succeed.
We explore goal setting in our Be Healthy Course and how to effectively set goals to ensure you can develop a healthy lifestyle, a business dream or sports performance.
Jimmy and I are always here to answer questions or help you get started.
If you are feeling inspired and want to get going now you can find the Be Healthy Course here.