Living Well — success

Get SMART About Your Fitness Goals 0

You won’t get anywhere without setting calculated, meaningful goals. We can all say we want to go to the moon, but without the right preparation, planning, or training we won’t ever get there. Making goals with working out or weight loss work the same way. That’s why you should create SMART goals. This stands for specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound. These restrictions allow you to give yourself goals that you’re better equipped to achieve.

Specific

If your goals are too broad, you won’t be able to determine how well you’re doing. If your goal is just to “work out” and you go to the gym once every two months, then congratulations, you’ve completed your goal and “worked out”, but you haven’t really achieved any meaningful goals. And we’re guessing that wasn’t what you meant when you made your goal. Make your goal specific to push yourself further and really get the best results. Instead of “work out”, try “run on the treadmill for 30 minutes”.

Measurable

Giving yourself an end goal that can actually be measured yields far better results than those that are broad. Your goal may be to lose weight. Well, weight is certainly something that can be measured, so give yourself a number that you can continuously check yourself against and gauge your progress in relation to it. If your goal was to “lose weight” and you lost 5 pounds, that would technically fall into the completion of your goal. But by giving yourself a measurable goal, like 30 pounds, you can see how much that 5 pounds really contributes to your true intention and how far you still have to go.

Action-Oriented

Goals that are action-oriented may involve a specific event or an action to take place in order for you to feel like you’ve completed this goal. Having a concrete action-oriented goal is also a great way to make sure your journey or progress along the way is making you prepared for this goal. For example, your action-oriented goal may be that you want to run a 5k. Every step that you take towards that goal, whether it be increasing the duration of your running time, running on different terrain, etc. will have the endgame of a 5k in mind. You then know which actions you need to take to complete this goal, which leaves you better prepared to complete it successfully.

Realistic

Oftentimes, when we create goals for ourselves we really shoot for the stars. Which isn’t always a bad thing! But, if your goal is to drop 7 pant sizes in less than a month, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure. Part of the reason why we don’t always achieve our goals is because we set an unrealistic goal to start with, and get frustrated when we don’t see ourselves obtaining it. Really think about your goal, and prepare for any setbacks or unexpected turns. Be honest with yourself, do you see your goal as something that is realistic and achievable given the circumstances, time frame, etc.? If so, you’ve gotten yourself onto the path for success, go for it!

Time-Bound

The most important part of a goal is arguably the time-bound aspect of it. If there is no sense of urgency, what incentive do you have to push yourself to complete this goal right now? ‘I want to lose 10 pounds, but I have as much time as I want to do that, so I’ll skip the gym today’. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks, however, you would definitely think twice about skipping that gym day (and we hope you wouldn’t!). Creating a goal that is time-bound will give you the push to achieve your goals, because it makes you responsible and accountable. If you haven’t lost 10 pounds in 8 weeks, you can clearly see that you did not achieve your goal.

Now that we’ve talked about SMART goals, let’s see what one actually looks like. Some examples would be:

Lose 20 pounds by June 1st.

• 20 pounds is measurable, June 1st is time-bound and specific.

Complete a 5k by the end of the year. 

• Completing a 5k is action-oriented and specific, the end of the year is time-bound and realistic.

Fit into your old skinny jeans within the next two months.

• Your old skinny jeans are specific, the next two months are time-bound.

A SMART goal is simultaneously all 5 of these components in one simple phrase. Here’s a visual example.

We think you probably get the idea now. An organized, well crafted goal instead of a broad unrealistic one makes all the difference in achieving your goals. So go create some SMART goals for yourself on your fitness journey and immediately see the better path it puts you on. 

12 Quotes to Drive You to Fulfill Your New Years Resolutions 0

2017 is here! That means everyone is doing their best to stick to their resolutions, some being far more difficult than others. As we know by now, resolutions aren’t always a one-stop fix. They’re an uphill climb, hard to stick to, and you will most likely face many steps backwards while trying to move forward. When your resolution involves making healthier choices and getting your body in better shape, you’ll need some motivation to push you through those difficult times. We’re here to help motivate you — after all, we’re on this journey of health together. But some motivation from those who are more wise than we are can be immensely powerful. Here are 12 quotes we think represent this journey to a better you. We hope these quotes free you from what was holding you back in 2016, and get you in the healthiest mindset for the trials and triumphs of 2017.

15 Quotes About Healthy Living to Help You Through the Day 0

10 Daily Affirmations to Live By 0

Many find that filling their mind with positive, self-assuring thoughts can start their day in the right direction. Here are some positive daily affirmations that we can all use in our lives to make taking on the world a little bit easier.

1. I am in charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness.

2. Amazing opportunities exist for me in every aspect of my life.

3. I freely give up what is no longer serving me, and release it to create space for what inspires me.

4. I either have control or I don’t; worry is wasted energy.

5. I choose to fully participate in my day.

6. I am at peace with all that has happened, is happening, and will happen.

7. I am a powerhouse, I am indestructible. I am conquering my problem and defeating it steadily each day.

8. I am a better person for the hardship I have gone through.

9. I feel safe in the rhythm and flow of ever-changing life.

The Fear of Success 0

We’ve heard this phrase many times before - so how does this apply to your health and wellness goals? Whether it’s your goal to do one thing - like drink more water, or a more complex one, like lost 30 pounds, we need to realize what it is that might be holding us back in any of these scenarios. Most of the time, we know what we need to do, or we can find out what we need to do, i.e. get the help of a nutritionist. We may think that we simply don’t want it enough, otherwise we would have already done something about it and achieved this goal. However, that’s not the case. Even if you consider yourself a risky person, it can be the fear of taking the risk to achieve your goal and failing. An irrational fear, even, that is holding you back.

What do we mean by this? Well, we know now that simply having a 51% chance or more at succeeding at something is not nearly enough to get us to do it. The odds must be much greater, and when we don’t see the chances as being good, then we’re much less likely to follow that workout plan. Because we have a lot of doubts that it’s not going to work. These may not even be rational - in fact, they are probably irrational fears and reasons as to why we might fail. Nevertheless, they are real to us and keep us from trying to achieve our goals.

The best way to work through this? Help ourselves to realize that the outcomes that can be achieved are worth it to take that risk. This is done by breaking down what we deem to be the risks and what we would like to gain from this experience. Basically, what things are you willing to give up by not achieving your goal and what things you are willing to risk to get there - this can be anything from money, psychological or physical well-being, career, time with family and friends, etc. The point here is to realize your priorities and what matters to you. Plus, taking the time to actually write out or verbalize your fears and possible outcomes may bring you to the realization that this is worth the risk, and sooner than you thought.