People, in general, are great at setting long-term goals. Especially around the New Year. “I want to lose 35 pounds.” “I’m going to exercise more.” “I want to cut all junk food out of my diet.” Any of these sound familiar? According to CNN, however, only one in five people will still be keeping their goals after six months. In fact, 30% will have given up within the first month. What is it about that one out of every five that makes them succeed? Luck? Determination? Willpower? And simply reaching one, single goal is not the way to develop a healthy lifestyle. Those most likely to succeed not only set long-term goals, but also set short- and medium-term goals, with specific guidelines, and update them on a regular basis.
Reasons It Works
By breaking any project into smaller, manageable sections, it automatically seems to be easier to achieve. And by setting specific guidelines for each goal phase, there are concrete actions you can take. There are specific things you can achieve. Attempting to meet the ideal of “being healthier” isn’t likely to change your everyday behavior. But if you have two concrete things to do every day, you will have an honest, accurate record of whether you are on track to meet your final goal. And by setting multiple, healthy, long-sited goals, you are destined to develop a truly healthy lifestyle.
Short, Medium, & Long Term Goals
A good guideline to follow is that short-term goals should be reached within a four to six week period; medium term goals, a three to six month period; and long term goals, a year or more. For example, if you want to lose 50 pounds, that is your long-term goal. A healthy weight loss rate is one to two pounds per week, making this a perfect one-year long-term goal. But how are you going to get there? That is where short and medium term goals come in. In this example, some perfect short-term goals would be: drinking eight glasses of water a day, journaling everything you eat, and walking for at least ten minutes a day. These simple acts will help in the long term. If you follow these short-term goals for a six-week period, you will be amazed with the progress you have made. All three of these are proven ways to help lose weight. Even if you don’t purposely try to cut down on food, being forced to write every single bite down usually causes you to eat less, or at least healthier. Some medium-term goals to be reached by the six-month mark: Being able to walk three miles or keeping within a healthy calorie range six days a week.
Holding Yourself Accountable
Setting short, medium, and long-term goals is only part of it. The second part is holding yourself accountable. Write your goals down and review- or adjust, if necessary- them regularly. This is a vital step to actually succeeding. Everyone gets off track once in awhile. After three months, you may realize that your long-term goal is going to take longer than you originally thought to achieve. You have two options at this point- still attempt to achieve it and inevitably fail or be realistic and re-assess your goals. By re-adjusting your long term goal, but not giving up, you are more likely to succeed. You can also adjust your medium-term goals as necessary. Over the year-long period, you should change your short-term goals on a two to three month basis. Your short term goals should accurately reflect where you are on your journey to a healthier body. For example, once you’ve been walking for ten minutes a day for two months, you might want to up it to twenty or thirty minutes a day. The idea is to constantly challenge yourself, stay on track, and keep the image of your final goal in mind.
Next time you make a resolution: try this technique. Maybe you can be the one in five that actually succeeds. And victory tastes a lot sweeter than an extra piece of cake.
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