YOUR PLAN TO ACHIEVE YOUR HEALTH + FITNESS GOALS THIS YEAR
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I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that I’m a big believer in the phrase, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
While it’s not the kindest of sentiments, especially to those of you who might not be a Type A perfectionist like myself, I do truly believe that in order to achieve your goals, you need to have some sort of plan in place.
In January, I want to help you develop some plans for 2021. I’ve heard from several of you on social media and through real life conversations that you struggle with creating those plans - or sticking to them.
And if there’s one thing I love to do in my life it’s PLAN. I freaking LOVE to plan! If I could sit with my planner all day and just write things in it I would.
I think this is also why I LOVED being a running coach. Writing training plans for myself and others was just so much fun to me!
So, let’s start there… let’s start by coming up with a health + fitness plan that works for YOU in 2021.
(SIDE BAR: I’ll be honest, I really struggled to come up with the right order to this, and if I learned anything from The Lazy Genius Way, it’s that you need to go in the right order. That being said, I think this is the right order for ME - but if you need to switch some of these things around, there’s not wrong way to do it. These are just the 4 steps I believe you need to do in order to create a 2021 Health + Fitness plan that works for YOU.)
STEP ONE. Create a goal and write it down.
What’s your health + fitness goal for 2021? Is it to lose X number of pounds? Is it to run a marathon or a 5K?
Pick a goal that not only will STRETCH you, but is a goal you believe you can accomplish. My friend + mentor Jessica taught me that it’s not about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, it’s about creating goals that you actually believe in - and create the thoughts around it.
One thing I do want to encourage you to do is to start small. Maybe you know you need to lose 50 or even 100 pounds. Y’all, that’s a HUGE goal - and that number might feel completely intimidating. But, what if we made it smaller and more attainable. What if we start with just 20 pounds? How does that make you feel when you break down your goal into a smaller action step? Do you believe you can lose 20 pounds in the next 365 days?
Or, another example, maybe your goal is to run a marathon this year but you barely ran in 2020 (because HELLO, 2020…). Let’s start by running 1-2 miles 3 days a week and stick with that. After a month, maybe you add another mile or another day to it.
Start by choosing a goal that will stretch you, but is still something you KNOW you can do.
And then write the ISH down! If you don’t write it down, it’s just a thought in your head. Let’s add something to it by writing it down. And start the sentence with, “I am…” or “I am the person who…” This is now your THOUGHT behind it. You need to BECOME that person today in order to become that person - know what I’m saying?
So, pick a goal and write it down.
STEP TWO. Choose an activity that excites YOU - not one that you feel you “should” be doing.
I’m starting to hate the word “should.” No one “should” do anything. Nothing makes you feel more guilty than someone telling you that you “should” do this.
(SIDE BAR: I’m not telling you this is what you SHOULD do… but I’m helping you create a plan that you can stick with…)
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know I LOVE to run. My worst days are the days when I don’t run. I NEED it. I am addicted to the endorphins it gives me.
But, you might not feel that way. I don’t feel that way about group exercise classes… at all. I don’t love them and they don’t get me excited and most of the time, I make excuses to NOT attend them - even when I’m the one who scheduled it!
Don’t be me + group exercise classes.
If running excites you, RUN. If it doesn’t, choose something else you would love to do!
But, it has to be something that YOU want to do, because nothing is going to stop you in your tracks more than forcing yourself to do something you don’t love.
STEP THREE. Find the time + schedule it in.
I think this is where people get caught up the most. I think we are all great at setting goals and finding activities we love, but when it comes to actually implementing it, we don’t make or find the time for it.
So, get out your planner (and if you don’t have a planner, you can grab mine for FREE here) and pencil your workout into your day.
Some advice for you from someone who has been there, done that… if you know that at the end of the day, you’re NOT going to want to head to the gym, don’t schedule your workout for after work. As much as I didn’t love my alarm going off at 3:45AM to go run, if I didn’t do it first thing in the morning, my chances of actually doing it after work were pretty slim. I’d either want to just go home because I was exhausted, or I would get caught up doing something or pulled into a meeting and have to skip my workout.
Find a time that will increase the likelihood of you actually getting your workout in for the day. For me, it’s first thing in the morning. For you, it might be in the evening after the kids go to bed, or right after work.
After you find the time, WRITE IT DOWN. (Are you seeing the pattern here?!) Seriously, schedule it into your day. How often do you miss your work meetings or a kid’s activity? Probably not very often, right? Well, do the same for your workout. Make it as much of a priority for you as meetings + activities in your day.
STEP FOUR. Make a commitment to yourself.
Don’t skip this step! I know this is the easy one to skip - and I know you’re thinking to yourself, “But, I just don’t have the willpower or discipline.”
Stop using willpower or lack of discipline as an excuse. You don’t have any more or less willpower or discipline as me.
What you are lacking is making the commitment to yourself.
So, let’s get down to WHY this is important to you…
I read recently in the book The Bullet Journal Method that you should ask yourself the “five whys.” This was actually invented by the founder of Toyota in order to solve technical problems in the company, but you can easily use this to help you get super clear on your goal and create a mission statement or commitment to yourself.
All you have to do is ask yourself the question “why” 5 times… this will give you some basis behind your reasoning and help you remember - when times get hard, and they WILL get hard - exactly why you created this goal this year.
And of course, WRITE IT ALL DOWN.
Oh friend, I’m SO excited for you this year! I know you have health + fitness goals to accomplish this year, and I truly believe by having a solid plan in place, you’re going to absolutely achieve those goals!
So go out there + let’s do this!
Check out the ONE THING you absolutely need (besides a plan) in order to achieve your goals this year!
