New Years Eve. A time to reflect on the year that was, and look forward to the year ahead. Many of us will set resolutions to better ourselves. Less than 10% of people who make New Year’s Resolutions successfully complete them. However, those who set resolutions are 10 times more likely to achieve their goals than people who do not set resolutions.
This year, we want to help you CRAFT your goals for 2015, to help give you the best chance to get in the <10% of people who achieve their New Years Resolutions.
Definition of CRAFT:
Clear
Realistic
Achievable
Forward thinking
Tactical
Clear. A vague goal is just as bad as not setting a goal at all. If your goal is to ‘get in better shape’, you could just work out one more time a month and say you’re in better shape.
Use metrics for your goals. Lose 10 pounds. Reduce body fat to 18%. Run a 5K in 25 minutes. Make your goal something you can measure and see if you hit it or not. This will not only give you something to work towards, but will help to motivate you to achieve it. Monitoring your progress over time will let you see if you are on track to hit your goal or if you’ll need to alter your training.
If you do not have any resolutions or goals, or if they are vague, there will be no way to tell if you have been successful. Use metrics to set goals that are easily measurable.
Realistic. Focus on being realistic about the amount of effort you are going to put forth. It is easy to say you will work out 5 times a week and plan these great results you’ll receive, but is that realistic? It might be easy to exercise after work every day in January, but will that enthusiasm still be alive in March? Or on vacation? Carve out a number of workouts that you know for a fact you will be able to make. Make that your bar. Promise you will not work out fewer than that many times per week, knowing that is a realistic number of workouts for you each week.
Be realistic about the amount of willpower that you have as well. Most times this will revolve around your diet. If you want to cut out all carbs and sugar from your diet, how likely do you think you will be to achieve that? Is it the end of the world if you have a burger and coke once in a while? No, not at all. Just factor the likelihood of that McDonald’s visit into your goal planning. If you resolve to lose weight and can honestly say there is no way you can completely cut out sweets or fried foods (for example) try to limit it and use it as a reward. If you say you’re going to quit cold turkey, one break down could demotivate you from your entire resolution.
Be honest with yourself, and plan accordingly.
Achievable. We all want a 6 pack. And to bench 315. And to be able to do that full split in yoga class. With enough time and hard work, you will be able be to do that. But it will not happen overnight. That really only makes sense, but it is something to consider when setting your goals. Goals should absolutely push you to better yourself, but if you set out to accomplish too much, you are setting yourself up for failure. Push yourself, but make sure your goals are possible with the amount of effort you will give.
Start by being realistic about the amount of effort you are going to put in (just touched on that above). Once you know that level of effort, really sit down and think about what you want to achieve and how much you KNOW you can achieve.
Forward thinking. When setting goals, think about how they can fit into the bigger picture of your overall health. Is it something that you will benefit from down the road? Setting a goal to run a half marathon in June is great! However, having that be the climax of your training and not doing anything for the rest of the year is probably not your best bet.
Even during each workout, think about the exercises that you will be doing. Are they helping to achieve your goals? If you want to run that half marathon, what would be more important, increasing your bench press numbers or being able to maintain your pace through the final 8 miles? While in the moment you may want to load up the bench, think about your larger goals and what actions you need to take to support them.
Having checkpoints such as a race, competition, or just a weekly ‘weigh in’ are a great idea to see how your training is going. Just keep in mind that once the race is over, your training should not be.
Tactical. This part focuses more on how you will achieve your goals. You need to develop a plan. It is quite easy to come up with a great goal on New Year’s Eve that at the time sounds awesome. But once the ball drops and the confetti clears, are you really going to stick to that goal? Developing a plan will be your best bet to do that.
How many times per week will you need to work out in order to hit your goal? What type of workouts will you need to do? How will your diet need to change to help you meet your goals? When will you measure your progress?
These are all questions that will need to be answered to help you achieve success. This is a fantastic time to use technology to help you achieve your goals. Plot out your gym routine in your calendar and set reminders for yourself on your computer, phone, wall calendar, and any other place that will help you see it. Be sure to schedule in any trips or vacations you are taking, and plan accordingly.
Use a fitness tracker or app to count how many steps you take during the day, as well as what you eat and to record your workouts. Having something to look back on to see how you performed will give you results to be proud of, and can point out any missteps that happened so you can work to avoid a repeat. Use technology to help you keep track of how you are doing as much as you can.
New Year’s is a great time to CRAFT some goals for the next year. Keep these tips in mind when deciding what you want to do, and then stick with it! If you are determined enough, you can achieve them.
Happy New Years!
Posted by Vince