Setting goals- over the last couple of nights I have been pin pointing and asking myself how do we set goals that are achievable? Let’s say your goal is to loose weight, we all know the theory, eat less calories, burn more calories= weight loss, win win 😁….
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So why are we all not achieving this goal of weight loss? Because of habit and staying in our comfort zone as well as beating ourselves up when we slip up ie enjoy a chocolate cake and then do no exercise to burn the calories; I have failed myself, what’s the point? I cannot sustain this crazy diet or fitness regime anyway etc.. etc…
It’s all to do with and starting with physiology, emotions, feelings and your thoughts when you have control of these you can then achieve your goals.
Physiology- is on how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical and physical functions that exist in a living system.- You can somewhat help this by choosing what you eat and your choice of lifestyle.
Emotions- is energy coursing through your body and these are signals that originates from your physiology in the form of chemicals, electromagnetic, electrical and pressure waves.
Feelings- is simply the awareness of your emotions; this is difficult for most because of perhaps prevardo, or not spending time on yourself, meditating, we are all to busy, we have families a career etc .. if we do not give time to ourselves then stress will acure.
Thought- this is entwined with your feelings and your own moral beliefs that you grew up with; you may think why should I listen to him/her? They keep changing the goal posts on what is and isn’t healthy, my grandad smoked and lived till 95 etc…etc…
All of these four points will effect your behaviour and how you then achieve your goals. So then back to the question;
How do we achieve our goal of losing weight?
It starts with setting a realistic goal then by making a promise to yourself that you are going to do something about it and that is by doing one thing at a time. SMALL STEPS, SMALL ADJUSTMENTS, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT that you know will help you.
So yes we know what we have to do but it’s hard and it never works in the long run I hear you say. The answer to this statement is that it is negative and any negative message will not help anyone, so you combat your natural negative mind with gratitude.
You have to practice gratitude to change your mindset before you start your journey to your achievable goal, in this case weight loss. Once you have mastered gratitude you will be able to achieve your goals.
As you practice gratitude on a daily basis, (for the rest of your life) you will notice positive things happening in your life and this will help you feel good and your empathy and compassion will grow then all of a sudden you start feeling good and happy.
So your goal is to lose weight in this case, physical exercise, do it, anything, listen to your body get advise from a health professional but ultimately start doing physical exercise. A goal of say running 5k, it all starts with getting the trainer’s and running kit on and taking those first steps, I highly recommend couch to 5k app from One You😁.
You might start of feeling foolish, embarrassed, silly, etc.. but that’s because your brain does not recognise what your doing let alone your body but the most important thing is you are one step closer to achieving your goal and through family, friends, clubs and of course A Better Way you can do it.
Make a small adjustment in say what you eat, cut out bread or that packet of crisps. Better still get the free app My Fitness Pal and monitor everything you eat and drink, a great app that will aid you in achieving your goal weight.
Reward- the reward is to get to the desired weight you have set as a goal but this will take time so it is very important that you reward yourself little and often, congratulate yourself in completing run one of week one on couch to 5k, celebrate it with family friends, your club or on A Better Way.
By rewarding yourself and by practicing gratitude the journey to your achievable goal will be a lot easier and achieved.
In conclusion to change your behaviour and reach your goals you have to be in control as much as possible
- Your physiology.
- Your emotions.
- Your feelings.
- Your thoughts.
- Your physical behaviour towards your goal
This is achieved by,
- Making sensible decisions on your lifestyle and diet choices.
- Change your mindset through practicing gratitude.
- Have some down time for yourself, meditate, have awareness and mindfulness.
- Taking small achievable steps or actions towards your goal.
- Reward yourself little and often and celebrate your achievements regularly.
- Getting back to nature, fresh air, put the gadgets, phone away and enjoy being outside.
Finally A Better Way is about becoming happier stronger and healthier through physical and mental well-being and supporting anyone who wants to improve their outlook on life. Members will find a wealth of information on our Facebook page from Mind, NHS, YouTube, selected articles as well as apps to help in physical and mental well-being with self help apps and documents in the file section.
Enjoy Brian 😀
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