Firefighter Fitness: 5 Things to Help You Achieve Your Goals
Jan
26
Written by:
1/26/2012
It’s the New Year and most people have started their new years resolutions. But how many actually succeed at them? Most people believe that if they simply write down their goals for 2012 it will become a reality. I wish it were that simple, but it is not. Most people will have a difficult time trying to achieve their goals because making a wish list is not enough. So what goes wrong?
1. TOO MANY, TOO MUCH
Studies have shown that if you want to make one change in your life, you have an 85% chance of success. However if you try to change two thing at once, your chances of success drop to around 35%. Three things at once? Almost zero. Many people actually develop certain poor habits over 10, 20, 30, or even for 40 years. So trying to establish a new habit while breaking an old one can be challenging in itself. Now include a number of other goals and you will not achieve any of them.
2. TOO TOUGH, TOO SOON
Typical goals for the new year are weight loss and/or exercise. Its not uncommon to hear “I want to lose 50lbs” or “I want to run a marathon”. Both of these goal are great but they are also very challenging, and it will take a some time to achieve either one. For example, most people will lose up to 2-3 lbs. per week if they change their diet - that means they will have to achieve 2 separate goals (see above) 1. Change their poor eating habits, and 2. start with a healthier one. Not only that, they will also have to do this over a 5 -6 month period. The same goes for the marathon, assuming you never ran one - on average it will take 6 months of preparation to run a marathon.
But let’s be realistic, most people do not want to wait that long. In regards to weight loss, people will change everything right from the start. They will go to the “All natural” food store and purchase everything that is gluten free, whole wheat, and sugar free right from the start. Unfortunately, this is only setting them up to fail because everything will taste like crap and within 2-3 weeks and they will stop (once the food runs out).
The same goes for the marathon. People will start a running program and within the first week and run so hard that their bodies will be so stiff and sore that by the 2nd-3rd week they will not be able to move without some type of discomfort creating a negative effect in regards to exercise. By starting out to hard most people will set themselves up to fail right from the start.
3. TOO HARDCORE
Is there really such a thing as “too disciplined?” YES, especially if I want to enjoy life. In the beginning most people will be so focused that it eventually takes it toll on your emotions and psyche, which over time could lead to a meltdown. Your willpower is only so strong and it will eventually give out. You can’t hold your breather forever, neither can your willpower - so don’t forget to breathe. It is important to remember life is about balance, so make sure you don’t miss out on all the great things in life. Let your body recover from the long runs, give yourself a cheat day when starting a new diet, and try and laugh once in while. It will make things less of a chore and more fun. I will admit, this is an area I need to work on.
4. TOO RIGID
Benjamin Franklin once said ““Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” Allow yourself some room for error. Life happens and mistake occur. If you want to learn about success, talk to a successful person. If you want to learn about failure, talk to a very successful person. Tavis Smiley calls l this failing up - “See failure as a friend. ... Understand that failure is not fatal. Failure is not final.”
5.TOO VAGUE
Goals need to be specific or quantified. For example, one personal goal I set this year is to perform 50,000 push ups. That means I have to average the following:
If I miss a day then the next day its doubled, and again, and again. So if I miss a whole week I may be spending one day doing 1027 push ups (can you say injury).The same can be applied to any goal. You want to read 4 books in a year. How many pages are there in each book? How long will it take you to read a chapter per month, per week, per day?
Goal setting is a practiced skill and to help make your new years resolutions become a reality try some of these simple tricks.
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List 5 or 6 behaviors you need to improve or change to help you achieve your goals. Ask yourself “What do I need to be doing that I am not already doing?” “What bad habits do I need to get rid of?” What good habits do i need instill?”
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List your goals from easiest to hards, as well as your habits.
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“Maintain” all your other goals and focus your attention on the first thing on your list (the easiest one.) Try and spend 2-3 weeks just focusing on achieving that one goal so it becomes a habit. On average it takes 21 consecutive days to establish new habits or break old one’s.
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Once you have achieved that goal or habit, move to the next one on your list and focus your efforts their.
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Be patient, realistic, and honest with yourself and one by one your will establish new habits and achieve all your goals, which in essence will create a “snowball” effect creating a bigger overall effect with long-term success instead of trying to do it all at once.