The Best Version of You is 12 Months From Now

Blogs By Heidi

I love 12 month goals, and I talk about them quite a lot. I always encourage my clients to set 12 month goals, because it’s a timeframe that is far enough away that something significant can be achieved in that time, but it’s also not so far that it’s out of reach.

People tend to overestimate what they can achieve in a short period of time, and underestimate what they can achieve in a long period of time. We get caught up in the humdrum of day-to-day life, and often this means we forget about setting ourselves targets and goals to achieve over the long term. Then suddenly another year has passed and nothing’s changed.

It’s almost a brand new year, so it’s time to set those big health and wellbeing goals. Please don’t wait until the new year is upon you to set your goal – you need lead-in time to make a plan! It’s not a good idea to set your goals on a whim when you’re lying on the couch after stuffing yourself at Christmas lunch and saying “right, I’ve had enough of this, next year is the year I do things differently!” Or, while you’re tipsy with your friends on New Year’s Eve and raving about all the changes you will make this year. These goals are likely to be made on the spur of the moment and will blow up in smoke within a week or two. Start setting your goals NOW, so you can plan out what that looks like and set some realistic targets for how you will achieve them.

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Your 12-month goal also needs to be something that is going to stretch you. It should be something that gets you feeling excited, and a little bit queasy at the same time. Let’s say you’ve got 20kg to lose, and you say “right, next year I’m going to lose 10kg”. That’s a worthy goal for sure, but I want you to think bigger. I want you to set the 20kg goal. Because guess what? It’s not really about the goal. It’s about the person you become in pursuit of the goal. Of course, hitting the goal would be fantastic. But it’s more about having to step into a version of yourself that you’re not familiar with yet – a version of yourself who makes the kind of decisions that someone 20kg lighter would make. Perhaps that means smaller portion sizes, or more walks, or less alcohol, or more sleep. The idea is to set a goal that may seem slightly out of reach, because that is going to demand a different set of behaviours from you than what you’re used to now.

Here’s some other things to consider when setting your 12-month goal:

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  • Your ‘why’ for achieving the goal must be strong, and not vague. It must create a lot of pain for you if you don’t follow through. For example, “I want to lose 20kg so I feel great” is vague and won’t keep you on track when the going gets tough. “I know I’m on the path to a heart attack or stroke and I don’t want that to happen to me” is strong, will create a great deal of pain if you don’t follow through, and is much more likely to keep you focused and committed on those rough days.
  • You must have support from the people around you. Other people aren’t mind-readers, so if you have set yourself a goal, you need to communicate this to your partner and children, and let them know what you need from them in order to support you.
  • You will need accountability. Our clients who always do the best on our coaching programmes are the ones who show up to their coaching sessions on time, every time, ready to knuckle down and discuss what’s going on and set their targets for the upcoming weeks. The ones who skip appointments and make excuses generally end up defaulting back to old patterns over the long term and continue to struggle.
  • Correct information is fundamental. A lot of people are getting swept up in fads and trends that don’t work. Clever marketers get paid lots of money to sell products that promise to solve all your problems. The problem is, these types of things have never worked, and never will. You must arm yourself with correct information and a good test is to ask if something sounds logical. As an example, does cutting out fruit on the latest high-fat diet sound logical? If something sounds a bit off, or your gut instinct is waving a red flag, you must pay attention. People also love to hear good news about their bad habits. So when you’ve got marketers saying “hey, eat all the fat you like and lose weight”, there are going to be people who jump on that bandwagon. It’s important to take a step back and check in with what your better judgement is saying before you get swept up in the latest craze.
  • You must set regular targets. These targets must be realistic, but they also must stretch you. Setting targets is vital to keep you on track and motivation strong.

If you’re someone who is ready to set a 12-month goal, now is the time to think about how you are going to get there. Do you have the time, motivation or knowledge to do this on your own? Or do you need someone walking alongside you on the journey – someone to guide and support you, or push you when needed?

As holistic health coaches, that’s exactly what we do. Essentially, we fast-track you with all the information and support you need to achieve your health and wellbeing goals.

So, what does 2023 hold in store for you? Will it be the same old, same old? Or are you ready to become the best version of you?

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