There is no doubt that this time of year has a lot of people setting New Year’s Resolutions or planning goals for 2016. I have really never gotten into the fad of doing the whole New Year’s resolution thing because so many people only do that once a year and their goals are often short lived. Within a couple of weeks they have failed on their goal so they put an end to their plans. Feeling defeated they may not reevaluate or re-group to find where they went wrong and just give up without much of a fight. New Year’s Resolutions never really caught on for me as well because I really like being able to evolve, change and adjust my goals multiple times throughout the year if I need to. I don’t want to just be confined by a very narrow time line of setting goals or be stuck to an estimation when I don’t know what elements are involved in its achievement yet. I would prefer the freedom to course correction over time if needed.
This brings me to the next stage, for a long time I was a fan of setting goals. I would use the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Specific) goals model and often I would reach the goals I set. One year I set a goal to read 52 books (one book a week) for the year. By the end of that timeframe I shattered that goal! I ended up reading 78 books. It was amazing and I was really happy. However, where this goal setting model fell down for me, and perhaps for many other people as well, is that when I reached that goal I didn’t get my reading back on track to a sustainable pace for a long time afterwards. I spent so much time focusing on powering through the books that there were some of them that I maybe didn’t enjoy as much as I probably could have. It was about quantity and volume. I still read quite a bit now but it isn’t about the number of books its about something more for me now.
I can see that those that set weight goals may experience the same thing. Instead of focusing on the shape their body is taking as they get stronger and shed the fat they focus on the numbers on the scale and what that means to them. I have had friends go to saunas or sweat out water content thinking they are making big strides because they “weigh” less. I now think there are better ways to set goals.
Last summer I had the opportunity to see a speaker by the name of James Clear. James is a speaker and writer that studies how to become more efficient, enjoy life and live it to the fullest in so many ways. If you are interested in finding out more about him his website is www.jamesclear.com. One of the things I learned from him had to do with creating habits that support the success you are looking to achieve.
In his messages he talks a lot about the process and system which is something as a coach I can get behind. When a goal is set often there is a lot of passion and excitement around that goal however, as time wears on the spark can fade away. What James recommends is instead of setting goals you build habits that are simply executed.
For example his goal was to be a writer so he made a habit of writing. He had a schedule that he would maintain of the times that he would sit down to write. The articles he would compose were shared on his blog twice a week. It became automatic in that he didn’t write when he felt like it. It wasn’t an optional thing and at the end of the timeframe when he looked at his outcome he had written the equivalent of 2 books. He said himself that he would have never set the goal to write 2 books in one year but with the number of articles he had created he could have. Sometimes we don't know what is possible for ourselves until we start down the path. We look for our goals to propel us put sometimes we are limited by them.
I wanted to share one of the items in one of his articles that I really liked. He said
“Goals suggest that you can control things that you have no control over.
You can’t predict the future. (I know, shocking.) But every time we set a goal, we try to do it. We try to plan out where we will be and when we will make it there. We try to predict how quickly we can make progress, even though we have no idea what circumstances or situations will arise along the way.”
The point no matter what your goal is the work has to be done in order to achieve it. If you want to be a good shooter you have to put the time in and get shots. If you want to be in shape you have to go to the gym and eat right. If you want to become more knowledgeable in a subject you need to make the time to learn it. The process, system and habits you have in place will determine the success in being able to reach the goal you are looking to achieve.
The one thing I will say is that starting a New Year helps start the timeline of reflecting back and remembering the highlights as well as things you want to improve upon going forward. It is nice to take some time to start thinking about future directions and if you like where your life is going. Goals help to plot the desired course and give you an awareness that time is of the essence. Writing them down and posting them in a place you see them makes them exponentially more achievable.
The thing I like about SMART goals is that it provides a timeline, accountability and tracking. So in order to use the system that James Clear talks about I add in tracking so I can see exactly how I am following through on my goals using tools to follow up on my progress. My calendar is where I show this so I can see how many workouts I have done and the time I have committed to my goals. It makes it easy in terms of seeing my progress and keeping me on course. Also, sometimes it is helpful to have other people holding you accountable as well to continue to be motivated. Do whatever it takes to keep yourself on the right track to success.
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