Many of us will be setting goals as we embark on another new year. The most common resolutions last year were to lose weight, get fitter and eat more healthily, according to a survey by ComRes. These goals are all great for your health and reducing your heart risk, but sadly, many resolutions fall by the wayside. The same poll found that just one in eight people managed to reach their goals. So how can we make our aims a reality?
Setting your goal
1. Base it on evidence
“Conflicting information on health can diminish our motivation.” Focus on things that are proven to improve your health, such as increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, quitting smoking or exercising more. You can feel safe in the knowledge that sticking to these behaviours will help your health and wellbeing.
2. Use comparisons constructively
We naturally compare ourselves to others, often unfavourably, and this is easier than ever thanks to the internet, social media, and reality TV. Turn comparisons into something constructive. Notice the things that spark the most envy in you. Ask yourself: ‘What does he or she have that I want?’ Think about how you could reprioritise and set goals to have more of that yourself.”
3. Focus on what you want
1 in 8 people reached their new year goal in 2017
Remember to choose goals that are related to your priorities – for example, losing weight to prepare for surgery or to improve your health. You’re more likely to achieve your aims if they really matter to you, so try to picture the ways in which they could make your life better.
4. Look for multiple benefits
Pick behaviours that satisfy multiple things that are important to you. “For example, a cardio based workout could help control your weight, improve your mood and get you into the gym and socialising.”
Measuring success
5. Make goals that are SMART
Once you’ve identified what you want, how do you make it into a goal? Good goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. For example, if you want to lose weight, plan to lose a certain amount over a certain time period.
Watch the British Heart Foundations SMART goals video:
6. Break it down
After creating a SMART goal that suits you, break it down into steps with markers for each successful step. If your goal is to build up to walking 10 miles, then your markers along the way could be walking half a mile, one mile, two miles and so on. It’s particularly important to make the first step achievable.
Staying on track
7. Rehearse potential barriers
Think about potential barriers and how to manage them, Life is not one-dimensional and there will be many pulls on your time and energy from all directions. Have you thought about how to shield your goals during these times? Rehearse the situations in your head and write down how to deal with them.
8. Look back at your achievements
Many jobs have performance reviews to look back at your achievements to help you develop. Apply this logic to your personal life. Try writing a list of what you achieved in the past year, or the past few months. These could be anything: walking two miles, talking to your neighbours or trying new vegetables. Read it regularly to remind yourself what you’re capable of.
9. Remind yourself
When times get hard, remind yourself what you want to achieve, to cue your brain to resist temptation. Stick a post-it note reminder where you’ll see it when you need a boost, or tell loved ones about your goal and ask them to support you.
10. Be kind to yourself
If you’re struggling, be compassionate with yourself and investigate to see what the problem is. When do you struggle, what is the situation and what do you do? “Most setbacks are a learning curve, so don’t beat yourself up, When people don’t achieve a certain goal or target, that’s a high-risk time to fall back into old ways. A lapse doesn’t mean complete failure, so take the time to look back to see how far you have come and move forward.”
