Achieve Big Goals with Baby Steps

Are you planning the new year and a new you? I’d like to challenge you with a different approach. How about new year, evolving you? We’re constantly learning, changing and evolving – and it can happen all year long! Setting big goals for yourself is a great way to ensure you keep evolving, so set yourself up for success with goals that are both achievable and maintainable. 

I Love Goals

I love goals and tend to make a lot of them at the start of a new year, but I don’t actually call them “New Year Resolutions”. I think I set new goals around now because I have downtime where I’m able to reflect and be more creative. After the excitement of Christmas is over, I feel inspired and excited about the upcoming things that I want to achieve, start, or stop doing. 

Often, I’ll write a bunch of dreams and goals down in my journal inside the back cover. Sometimes I don’t look back on them for months or even until next year; but when I do, I’m always shocked at how many I’ve achieved. It’s like I’m setting subconscious intentions for myself. Writing things down is a great way to get clear on what you want to achieve, but it’s what happens after you decide on your goals that really matters. 

What it Takes to Achieve Big Goals

I see lots of people set themselves huge goals or resolutions each year, thanks to my career in fitness. As a fellow goal-lover, it makes me happy to see others wanting to feel healthier and stronger. Inevitably, though, I see many people get overwhelmed by the enormity of their plans and then give up on them. 

The key to making goals of any size come true is by making the little goals you need to get you there, too. You need a map to get you where you need to go and be ready for the unexpected along the way. There will be turns, roadblocks, and hills, and the trip may even take longer than expected. But if you can keep the end destination in sight and celebrate all the mini-achievements along the way, you’ll stay on track and be less likely to give up. 

Be Specific

Getting specific about your big and small goals is essential to ensuring you get what you want. Saying that you want to get into better shape or “be healthier” is vague. It’s pretty hard to achieve an idea, so make your goals crystal clear. What does it mean to you to be in better shape or healthier? Do you want to be able to walk 5km without being out of breath? Do you want to conquer a specific hike or run a half-marathon? Maybe you have a trip planned that will require a lot of walking, and you want to enjoy it fully. 

Let’s use the trip as an example. To get into shape for long walks, you’ll need:

  • Cardio endurance
  • Strong legs that won’t get tired
  • Strong core so you can keep a taller posture and walk for longer
  • Leaner body/less fat mass, which will come with building strength, working on cardio, and improving your eating and sleeping habits. 

Make a Plan

To accomplish these things, you’ll need to work out consistently, maybe change how you eat to build muscle and lose weight, and get good sleep to support your body. These things will affect many areas of your life, which can make it overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be! Start small with easy, related habits and build up to your bigger goals over time. 

Depending on where you are starting, some ideas could be: 

  • Take a walk on your lunch break
  • Do ten squats or lunges every time you wash your hands
  • Plank for 30 seconds, three times a day
  • Go to bed ten minutes earlier
  • Do five minutes of Pilates every day

Be Consistent

Start with something manageable that will challenge you a little bit, then build on that. You might want to hire a trainer or start going to one Pilates class a week. Think of it like Goldilocks and the three bears: too much or too little won’t work. You need to find the “just right” combination of consistent action. 

Incorporate small changes in various areas of your life in support of your big goals; they may end up being easier to achieve than you ever thought. 

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