If you have been intending to achieve the same goal for a long time but have never been able to actually attain it, there is likely a disconnect between your intentions and your actions. Here is a simple 3-step process to turn your intentions into actions that will help you achieve your goal.
Rather watch a video than read the rest of this article? Here’s the video below.
Get a specific, proven plan.
If you are intending to lose 20 pounds or drop two dress sizes the first quarter of the year, don’t mistake that intention for a plan. HOW do you lose twenty pounds? There are certain steps that you need to implement consistently in order to get your body to release 20 pounds, or two dress sizes or whatever your goal is.
I’m going to start eating better and exercising more is NOT a plan.
That statement gives you a direction to move in but doesn’t set a clear, measurable, EFFECTIVE standard. Your plan has to be specific enough to be able to answer the question “did I follow the steps of my plan” with a yes or no. For example, I plan to do high intensity training 4 days each week and make sure that 32 of my 35 weekly meals are figure friendly so that I can release 20 pounds this quarter is a plan.
You can easily account for how closely you followed your plan at the end of each week.
Besides being specific, we want our plan to be proven. If you have ever put your effort into following a plan and didn’t get any results at all, you understand why “something is better than nothing” is not true.
Make sure that your plan is something that you will actually enjoy enough to do consistently and that it has worked for other people like you. No matter how lean and beautifully shaped a fitness coach may be if their only solution is to have you eat what they eat and exercise how they exercise, you need to keep looking.
Identify obstacles and possible solutions.
Taking a look at your history with weight loss can help you identify potential obstacles before you even start. Rather than avoid the question of what went wrong before, examine it.
Emotions often hijack logic and good decision making. When you identify your obstacles, in advance you have a clear head to brainstorm and come up with solutions that may work without the emotion of being in the thick of things.
For example if you know that every January your schedule is jam packed but your plan includes getting in 5 weekly 30-minute workouts, you can plan to start your day 30-minutes early to do workouts from home rather than hope that your usual gym workout after your workday will magically happen.
Having a plan in advance will help you walk into your journey prepared and confident and decrease the chance of being taken out by the first obstacle that comes your way. It is kind of like playing a card game and knowing what’s in the other person’s hand. You have an unfair advantage!
Get accountable.
Here’s what I have noticed… People who are very successful in any area of life have a coach, mentor or accountability partner in that area of life. Getting accountable helps you follow through on the days you don’t feel like it. Additionally having accountability gives you perspective. Having someone to help you see and celebrate the small wins along the way or tighten things up when you are fooling yourself about your efforts is invaluable.
Now that you know how to turn your intentions into actions, tell me where you are in your journey. Do you need a plan, solutions to your potential obstacles or accountability? Tell me in the comments below.
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