Hello!  

I wanted to spend some time today talking about one of my ABSOLUTE favorite topics. Goal setting. We are one week into 2017 and I haven’t really set many goals yet for this year, which is unlike me.  I’ve been doing some brainstorming last night and wanted to think out my current goal list.  So far my 2017 goals are:

• Get to my goal weight
• Run a second marathon
• Break a 2:20 half marathon 

I feel like I need to set more goals. But that’s not the point of today. 

I never realized that I was an ambitious goal setter until recently. People have told me that I am, but I didn’t believe them. I figured everyone loved to set goals. I assumed that it was generally human nature to just set a bunch of goals and go for them. I have quickly learned that that is not the case. 

I am not sure when my love of goal setting began. I think it began the day I announced that I was going to run my first half marathon. That was the first time that I created a goal and that I realized I needed to create a plan so I could achieve that goal.  

That’s the thing about goals. Once you set them, they don’t just happen on their own. You have to create your plan of attack. 

I think that is something that often scares people about goal setting. Is that once you set it, you think well now what?

If you’re taking time to set an honest and realistic goal, but also one that scares and challenges you a little, I recommend the following. 

1. Set an attainable but challenging goal. It doesn’t have to be Fitness or weight loss. It can be to pay down your credit card, or read three books this month, or whatever you want to do that you haven’t commit to. Just set it. 
2. Say the goal out loud to someone. I always tell someone my goal. Why? Accountability. Someone to talk it out with. Someone to express my fears and concerns to. But saying it out loud makes it real. My Weight Watchers leader says that if we keep our goal to ourselves, no one else will ever know if we missed the mark or not. But it’s good to keep ourselves honest and accountable!
3. Set action items. How will you get to your goal? How long will it take?  Do you need to set smaller goals to achieve the larger one?  Write it out or mark it on the calendar. Tell yourself I got this. 
4. Do your best to achieve the goal. Sometimes you will achieve your goal. Sometimes you will fall short. Sometimes you will crush your goal more than you realize. Don’t let yourself get down about missing the mark if you do.  Working towards your goal is a success!  And you can always set a new goal and try again.i can’t tell you how many years I said I was going to make it to my goal weight that year, and I am itching to make a 2:20 half marathon and fell short last time. JUST TRY and you are succeeding!

So what are your goals this year?  Maybe your goal is just to set a goal. If you need someone to help keep you accountable just let me know!  I am happy to help and support you. You got this!

Go team goal setting!

-Vanessa