As we head towards the end of another year, many people get caught up in the ‘new year, new me’ mindset and go a bit goal-setting mad. And there’s nothing wrong with setting goals – so long as they’re goals you can achieve. Whether you’re aiming for change in your professional or personal life, have creative projects you want to start, or health and fitness targets you want to hit, this guide will help set you up for success.
Pick SMART goals
These are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based. Putting your goals into these parameters gives you an action plan that’s easy to follow and possible to achieve. This will empower you to seek out your next goal, rather than knocking you back with a feeling of failure.
Make sure you can control the outcome
Goals that rely on external factors leave too much to chance, which means they’re not really goals at all, but dreams. For example, ‘I want to start a romantic relationship’ may not be a realistic goal, because you may not find someone you click with by a set deadline. However, setting goals like, ‘I want to meet more people’ or ‘I will meet someone new for coffee this month’ are attainable and within your control.
Write it down
Do you use wall calendars, to-do lists or phone alerts to help remind you of things you need to do? Whatever your system is, use it to work for your goals too. Write down your main goal, for example, ‘Run a half-marathon’, and then the steps you plan to take to reach that goal, such as: run 2km, run 5km, run 10km. Plan it out by days and times to make it a dedicated part of your routine.
Reward yourself
It’s more than OK to give yourself little incentives and rewards for each step on your path to success – it might even help you get there faster! If you’re the one with the half-marathon goal, every extra kilometre you add to your daily or weekly run could equal a nice massage, a foodie treat, or some new music to run to.
Fitfood’s portion-controlled, wholefood-based meals are designed to help you meet your health goals, while still leaving plenty of time for the other important things in your life. Check out our fresh meals menu to see what lines up with your goals.
