Are your goals SMART?

Many people want to improve their fitness and health as the New Year approaches. To help you on that journey, I’ll share four things we teach our clients.

Make Healthy Actions EASIER (Frictionless)

The key to overcoming unhealthy habits is by changing our environment. You’ve got to introduce friction into the old way of doing things and reduce friction for healthier alternatives. For example, I had a client that avoided breakfast because he said it took too long to prepare. He grabbed coffee and headed out the door.

I had him replace his ground coffee with whole beans. Then walked him through every step of the coffee preparation. Grind the beans, fill the coffee pitcher, measure it, and start brewing. The entire time from the beginning to the final cup of coffee was five minutes and 20 seconds.

Then I had him prepare a bowl of oatmeal with fresh berries and orange zest. It took him only four minutes to make, including the time to heat everything. I made it easier to do the healthier thing (eat breakfast) than his habit of just grabbing coffee.

Instead of relying on willpower, I helped him remove friction from the healthier choice.

Clearly Define Your Goals

Do the following three things, and your chances of success will nearly double.

1. Get a pen and write your goals down on paper. Make them SMART.

Specific - You have to know precisely what you’re supposed to do.
Measurable - You must have some way to chart your progress.
Attainable - You should choose something challenging, so you must push yourself, but not impossible.
Relevant - The best goals are designed to help you grow, not dictated solely by outside interests.
Time-Bound - You need a date when things should be completed to keep your motivation levels high.

2. Share those goals with your friends and family.

3. Carry that paper to remind you what you want to accomplish and review it daily. Here’s why it works.

Committing your goals to paper forces you to take them out of your head and make them concrete. By having a goal, you become more motivated to put in the effort to achieve that goal.

Get Regular Feedback

When it comes to weight loss, the University of Minnesota researchers found that people who weigh themselves consistently are more likely to lose weight or prevent weight gain than people who don’t. Subjects who weighed themselves once a day lost more than those who did it once a week.

Set aside a specific time to step on the scale every day. Wear the same amount of clothing and write the results down, so you have a running total. Those daily weigh-ins are your regularly recurring feedback.

Then take action from the feedback presented. Weight fluctuates from day to day, so the actual results each time aren’t going to show much of a variation. But stepping on that scale reminds you of what you’re trying to accomplish. Knowing that you will weigh yourself at some point during the day may give you the willpower to resist a food craving or the strength to exercise.

When the results are positive, it reinforces your good behavior. If the weight hasn’t changed, it gives you time to reflect on what you need to do differently. Either way, the feedback you get from the scale is critical in helping you stay on track and make better decisions.

Reward Yourself When You Make Progress

That doesn’t mean you can eat a donut after every workout. But if you’re achieving your goals, plan on doing something special at various milestones. Invite friends over for cards, get a new piece of clothing or split a treat with a friend. Schedule your rewards with the same diligence you schedule working on your resolutions.

Play some cards with friends.

Removing friction to healthy actions, making clearly defined goals, regularly getting feedback and rewarding progress. Those are the secrets of success.

Call for a FREE Consultation (305) 296-3434
CAUTION: Check with your doctor before
beginning any diet or exercise program.

2/2/2023
Updated 6/6/2023