The missing step to your goal setting

By Christina Ross – Accredited Practising Dietitian

We’ve all been there. We set a health goal or commit to make a lifestyle change…and then life happens. We get busy, distractions come up and barriers make themselves known. And our goal starts to feel more like an aspiration than something within our reach.

So how do we take our goal to the next step? How can we ensure we take action and make forward progress? We need to make an action plan – an often-overlooked step of behaviour change.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish” –  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Here is a checklist of questions for you to answer, to take your goal setting to the next stage and take action!

• What is your ‘Why’?
  • Why have you set this goal?
  • What personal values does this goal align with?
• What barriers do you foresee in being able to achieve this goal?
  • Time?
  • Money?
  • Motivation?
  • Fear of failure?
• For each barrier you’ve identified, can you brainstorm a potential solution (now, before it happens)
• Who else do you need to tell about your goal?
  • For support?
  • For accountability?
• Have you scheduled time in your calendar or diary to work on this goal?
  • If your goal is to increase your physical activity, block out time in your diary to attend a gym class – just like you would any other meeting
• Do you have everything you need to work on this goal?
  • Equipment/ tools? Eg. If your goal is to prepare healthy lunch meals for work, check you have food containers and a lunch bag
  • Appropriate exercise clothing and footwear?
• What is your plan B?
  • If the weather is wet, do you have an indoor exercise option?
  • If you don’t get a chance to prepare a healthy dinner, is there a freezer meal that you’ve previously meal prepped that you can defrost?
• How will you reward yourself once you achieve the goal?
  • massage, magazine subscription, new activewear

It might seem tedious, but giving thought to all the steps that need to occur for you to achieve your goal goes a long way in helping you get there!