You and I want to look good, feel good and stay healthy. You want to be able to wear that shorts and feel confident in your own body. And most of us know what to do to achieve that. Eating less, better, healthier, exercising more, etc. So why is that 93% of women fail on a diet? 93%. It is a huuuuge number.
The first reason is: They don’t know WHAT they want, what they truly want. They may have a vague idea, but that’s not specific enough.
The second reason is that: They don’t know WHY they want that.
And the third reason is that: They don’t know HOW to do it, so they take no action…they do nothing, nada, zero.
It’s really that simple – if you don’t know what you want, if you don’t know why you want it, how on earth are you going to do it? It is true in every single aspect of our lives but here let’s focus on our body and weight. As you are reading this post, I know that you are ready to change things in your life. So if you don’t want to be a part of that 93% – there are 3 essential steps you need to follow:
Step 1 – SETTING UP YOUR GOAL
Think about WHAT you want. Once you know what you want, you have plenty of tools to choose from. “Losing weight” is not a goal and let me explain you why.
To set you up for a success your goal should be SMART:
Specific– well defined – so what exactly do you want, is that losing weight, getting stronger, leaner, having six pack, etc?
Measurable – when you will know that you achieved your goal, what will you see – is that losing 2 or 5kg or being able to fit in your favourite jeans?
Attainable – within your reach, losing 10kg within a week is not only difficult to achieve but it is definitely not healthy at all
Relevant – why do you want to reach this goal, what’s the objective behind it and will this goal really achieve that?
Time Based – enough time to achieve goal, when do you want to achieve your goal by, is that within a week, month, end of the year, etc?
I like this quote: “Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal”. Elbert Hubbard
So what’s the good example of a SMART goal in here?
“I want to lose 5 kg within the next 4 weeks because I want to feel confident wearing bikini on my holidays”.
Another important thing to take into consideration: when setting up your goal it’s important to focus on positives – think about your dream body, perfect health, how you will look like, and you will feel when you accomplish what you want. Do not think ‘I have to lose weight or I have to quit smoking’ as then your focus goes to ‘have to,’ ‘lose weight’ and ‘smoking.’ It’s not exciting, and it won’t keep you going. We become what we think about most of the time, so it’s extremely important what you concentrate your thoughts on.
THINK OF WHAT YOU WANT RATHER THAN WHAT YOU DON’T WANT.
So… WHAT Do You Want? Go through the SMART process to define it.
Step 2 – MOTIVATION
This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the process. You need to answer the question: ‘WHY do you want to lose weight and change your body’? Remember – it needs to be YOUR reason, not your partner’s, families, friends or ‘because I should.’ Dig deep, what’s in your core, why you want that?
Don’t cheat yourself – no one is lifting metal in the gym or running miles on treadmill sweating, just because they like it. Everyone has its own reason, emotional reason – some want to show off their beach body during holidays, others want to prepare for a big day – wedding or another occasion with people or relatives they haven’t seen for a while (and see their reaction “OMG look at her…WOW”), some want to be attractive to the opposite sex or just feel better, others want to prepare for a marathon or triathlon, some may want to have more energy to be able to pay with their kids and others could get the warning from their doctor that if they don’t change their lifestyle, they may will end up in serious troubles.
So what’s YOUR REASON – WHY do YOU want to do that? The more emotional, the better.
THE BIGGER THE WHY THE EASIER THE HOW.
Trust me, it’s crucial. Your reason will keep you disciplined and help you stay on track when you don’t feel like it.
So when you define WHAT you want and WHY you want it – you are already ahead of the game. The third step will focus on HOW to do this and I will share this with you in a new post. Now, take your time to digest the first 2 steps to make sure you know your WHAT and WHY. Good luck and please share your goal in the comments below.
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