Goals. Real goals, not general ideas and direction...
Setting real goals, I know we've all read this before, about how important goal setting is, but it still seems glossed over a lot of the time. "I want to lose weight" is a direction, not a goal. If you were to ask the captain of a ship what his goal was, he'd tell you he wants to hit a certain port at a certain time and date, not "Go west".
I'm finding for myself that setting real goals, with honest, attainable dates attached to them has been VERY powerful for me. I'm reading "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" (www.fitren.com) and while I don't agree with a lot of his dietary recommendations in the book, the way the author talks honestly and directly about goals and how powerful the subconcious mind is in our success has really been eye opening for me.
The author offers a 6 step goal process:
1. Your ultimate long-term goal
2. 12 month goal
3. Three month goals
4. Weekly goals (Weigh ins and weekly pictures)
5. Daily goals (habits to develop, things to do every day repeatedly)
6. The goal of beating your personal best.
One of the things he talks about in length is writing these goals out and really owning them. I've adjusted the mini-goals not just to be 10lb increments, but real, honest milestones I want to reach while I'm on this journey.
I hope some of you find this helpful, I know it's been really powerful for me, and I'm a lifelong cynic. I honestly thought to myself "this is kind of dumb, I *KNOW* what I want to do with changing my eating" but when I sat down and really wrote out what I wanted, I could suddenly see myself at these goals, and it's a great feeling!
My goals and dates:
299 (BIG GOAL HERE, April 15, 2008 target)
265 (Previous atkins low!, July 15, 2008 Target)
249 (Just to be under 250, how good will that be!, September 15, 2008 Target)
230 (High school wrestling weight, December 1, 2008 Target)
210 (NAVY WEIGHT! ULTIMATE GOAL!, February 1, 2009 Target)
I'm finding for myself that setting real goals, with honest, attainable dates attached to them has been VERY powerful for me. I'm reading "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" (www.fitren.com) and while I don't agree with a lot of his dietary recommendations in the book, the way the author talks honestly and directly about goals and how powerful the subconcious mind is in our success has really been eye opening for me.
The author offers a 6 step goal process:
1. Your ultimate long-term goal
2. 12 month goal
3. Three month goals
4. Weekly goals (Weigh ins and weekly pictures)
5. Daily goals (habits to develop, things to do every day repeatedly)
6. The goal of beating your personal best.
One of the things he talks about in length is writing these goals out and really owning them. I've adjusted the mini-goals not just to be 10lb increments, but real, honest milestones I want to reach while I'm on this journey.
I hope some of you find this helpful, I know it's been really powerful for me, and I'm a lifelong cynic. I honestly thought to myself "this is kind of dumb, I *KNOW* what I want to do with changing my eating" but when I sat down and really wrote out what I wanted, I could suddenly see myself at these goals, and it's a great feeling!
My goals and dates:
299 (BIG GOAL HERE, April 15, 2008 target)
265 (Previous atkins low!, July 15, 2008 Target)
249 (Just to be under 250, how good will that be!, September 15, 2008 Target)
230 (High school wrestling weight, December 1, 2008 Target)
210 (NAVY WEIGHT! ULTIMATE GOAL!, February 1, 2009 Target)