How to be Successful in 2023

Ah January 1st, the most powerful day of the year. The day we decide that if we must start our health journey, it’s that day. It’s a non-negotiable.

While we believe there is no better day then to start NOW no matter what day it is if you have a goal in mind, we thought to use January 1st, 2023 as a little tool to set you up with SMART goal setting. This little resource will help you become CLEARER and more CONCISE when setting your health goals this year.

What are SMART goals?

Some of you may be familiar with the term SMART goals. To put it simply, this is a very clear

process that allows you to become more realistic with your own personal goals. These goals focus on being specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. Too often, especially around New Years, we hear people around us proclaiming their New Year’s resolution is to “get fit by running 10km everyday”. First of all, this is very easy to generate every excuse for and secondly, if you haven’t run in quite sometime, you could find yourself at the physio by the second week. Epic start…

Creating your goals using the SMART acronym however will ensure that you DO reach your health and fitness goals with no excuses attached! Read on as we break down how you can be successful this year :)

Step 1 - Your goal needs to be SPECIFIC

Specify EXACTLY what you want to achieve. This is the first step as it clearly outlines what your goal will essentially be centered around. Is your goal based on sport performance? Quality of nutrition you wish to consume? Something along the lines of business progress? Is it weight loss? This is where you get really clear in terms of what you want. Imagine you are speaking to a class of prep/pre-primary students and you do not want to have to repeat yourself for the life of you. You say it once and expect they understand (ha…I wish). The point is, you should be able to know exactly what your goal is contextualised by just in 1 simple sentence.

Specific goals may include:

- My goal is to lose 5kg.

- My goal is to hit a 75kg squat.

- My goal is to walk 10,000 steps per day.

As you can see, each of the goals before are specific and very "straight to the point”.

Step 2 - Your goal needs to be MEASURABLE

The second step requires your goal to be closely MEASURED and MONITORED. How do you plan on tracking your progress? How will you know that you have reached your goal or are heading in the right direction? What data are you utilising? Measuring the progress of your goal may be INTRINSIC or EXTRENSIC. Intrinsic measurements include those that are measured internally and within self. Extrinsic however is relying on external tools and measurements to determine the success of your goals.

Examples of both intrinsic and extrinsic measurements are listed below:

- Intrinsic: better mood, positive self-talk and beliefs, feeling confident in your own skin, less-stressed etc.

- Extrinsic: scales or Dexa scans to measure bodyweight, run times are improving in terms of pace/speed, increase in dumbbell weights across workouts, keeping a spreadsheet/diary of workout and nutrition progress etc.

When laying out your goals, ensure you have a tool that allows you to measure your progress to keep you accountable!

Step 3 - Your goal needs to be ATTAINABLE

Step 3 seems to stumble most up when they haven't properly planned and developed New Year’s resolutions/goals. Although I preach, “our dreams and goals should be that big that they scare you”, we should also keep in mind that we want to be successful. Set a goal that is definitely a challenge (who doesn’t love a challenge) but ensure that it is within your scope. Attainable in the way that it won’t jeopardise your health, cause tension within your homelife, hinder priorities in your life and most importantly, has the ability to be reached with some grit and determination.

Attainable examples include:

- meal preparing 80% of my meals and allowing for 20% “soul” foods so I can incorporate a balanced diet

- completing 5 outdoor workouts per week so I have better mental clarity at work

- drinking 3L of water per day to stay hydrated

On that note, attainability is also based differently depending on every individual. Everyone’s lives and requirements are different so what may be attainable for you may not be attainable for someone else.

Step 4 - Your goal needs to be RELEVANT

Relevancy is key! If you have longed for the day you could run your first marathon then obviously your short or long-term New Year’s resolution/goal will be based on the processes of running a marathon. There’s no point in setting a goal that iscentered around your “maximum weight for 1 squat” if you’re planning to run a 42km distance. For sure, you will absolutely need to incorporate weight training if that is your goal however, you need to ensure your goal aligns to exactly what you want to achieve.

Relevant goals and coinciding scenarios include:

- you want to lose weight so your goal is to hit ___ calories as prescribed by your health coach

- you want to be able to run 10km so your goal is to run 5 days per week with a 10% increase in volume each week

- you want to win your first CrossFit competition so your goal is to work on your minor weaknesses daily for 10minutes.

As you can see, your goal should be relevant to what your priorities and desires are. This is achieved through looking at the bigger picture that is painted in your mind and looking at what “relevant” step is needed to take in order to reach that desired outcome.

Step 5- Your goal needs to be TIME-BASED

Finally, your goal needs to be time-based. Short-term or long-term, you need to establish a suitable timeframe as to when your goal should be achieved. Although some of us aren’t a fan of deadlines, they support our process in reaching our goals as they keep us

• ACCOUNTABLE in a way that they enforce you to get up and go

• FOCUSED as they create a “tunnel-vision” for you and wean out distractions and

• DETERMINED as you know you have a job that needs to be done by that deadline!

Some ideal time-frames to include when devising your New Year’s goals may include:

- By the end of January, I aim to have dropped 2kg by sticking to my meal plan

- Each week, I aim to improve my paddle paces by 2 seconds so my overall speed increases by state titles in July

- In 12 months time, I would have completed my first Olympic triathlon

Each of these goals have a well thought-out timeline which is catered towards the needs of each individual.

"I need help with my goal setting!"

Sometimes it’s beneficial to bounce ideas with somebody in order to develop a well-constructed, personalised and relevant goal. Here at Body Aus, we LOVE to help our clients create a goal that is based on their individual needs.

If you would like assistance in setting a SMART goal OR devising a plan/strategies in order to reach your goal, please reach out to us at inquire.body@gmail.com . We coach anybody who has any type of health and fitness goal.

Here’s to 2023!