In 5 Steps to Set a Goal and Finally Achieve It, we talked about how setting fitness goals & creating a plan for success. We also talked about how this increases the likelihood of achieving your goals.

But what should you do if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to? Two strategies we’ll talk about here are reflection and habit triggers.

Reflection

Nothing’s perfect. And we can’t expect to be 100% on everything we set out to do. Something we haven’t discussed yet, and one of the most important steps to achieving your goals is in one word: REFLECTION.

At the end of every goal setting phase we need to take a 30,000 foot view of how it went. Proper SMART goal setting and planning should eliminate any big rocks standing in your way, but an effective reflection period after the first month or so can be the strategy to help you break through. After all, who gets anything right the first time?

Remember that we initially set a three month goal to lose 10lbs. After the first month, it’s time to evaluate your progress.

Did you lose the first couple pounds you needed to?

Did I complete all my Monday morning weigh-ins?

Am I feeling better? Moving better? Do I have more energy?

Are my energy and mindset at work improving?

Ask yourself these questions and evaluate your strategy. If you can answer YES to all of them, then you’ve moving in the right direction. Congratulations!

Now let’s suppose you answered NO to completing all your Monday morning weigh-ins. Since the habits we implement to measure our progress are an important part of our plan, we need go back to the drawing board and make it even easier to accomplish. Consistency builds momentum with your habits, and that ultimately lands you on your target weight loss goal. 

Triggers

So how can we make it so easy to complete your weigh-in that it’s nearly impossible to fail? Set a trigger.

Pull out your cell phone and open up your calendar app. Scroll to next Monday and add a recurring calendar appointment for every Monday at 7am. This should be set to alert you at 7am every Monday and say “Weekly Weigh-in”. There’s your trigger. We all forget things.

Like we said before, we can’t expect to be 100% on everything we do. Use your smartphone to assist you with achieving your SMART goals!  Check out this video from Coach Stevo and the team at Habitry for some tips on creating habit triggers using your phone’s technology.

With the hustle and bustle of life as we know it, it can be challenging to start setting fitness goals and staying on track with your goal setting efforts. A proper planning strategy using SMART goals and a period of reflection are two critical steps to identify things that throw you off course, and allow you to set up habit triggers to get you back on the road.

Need Some More Help Setting Fitness Goals?

If you find yourself veering off course a bit, reflect on it, set a habit trigger, bring it to top of mind, and watch yourself build momentum towards your weight loss goal.

Let us know how it goes! Contact us if you need any help.

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