5 Ways to Successfully Reach Your Goals

5 Ways to Successfully Reach Your Goals
Written by Nichole DeHart

We are in the business of helping people reach their goals. Whether it be helping someone lean out, perform better in the gym or trying to attain a healthier lifestyle, we are working towards reaching our members’ goals on a daily basis. Many of my clients have been successful in attaining their goals, but their success has been dependent on a number of things. Obviously, commitment to the goal and consistency plays a huge part in achieving your goals. However, I have found that if you follow these five tips you will be sure to reach your goal successfully.

For example, one of my clients – Lisa B. – recently achieved her first pull-up. This was a huge accomplishment for her since she had never been able to do a strict pull-up. I would like to share with you how she achieved this goal following these five tips:

1. Have a game plan. This is a big one. Everyone can set goals, not everyone can attain them. Make a game plan for your road to success. Lisa knew she wanted to achieve a strict pull-up, so she began the Invictus Pull-Up Program. Her plan was to follow the pull-up program at home and/or before her regular training sessions.
2. Avoid distractions. There are tons of distractions in life and if you stop to address each one of them then you will never have the time or the energy to accomplish your intended goal. When you set your goal, be determined and resolute to accomplish it. Lisa recently joined the Police Academy, so her already busy schedule of being a wife and mother of 2 became even busier. She did not let that distract her; she remained consistent with her game plan. Even if she had to miss a training session, she still followed the pull-up program at her home.
3. Create a support group. This is so important when working towards a goal. As much as we would like to believe we have superhuman powers, we all need support. This is especially true when we are trying to accomplish something that may be out of our comfort zone. Talk to your friends and family about the goal you have set for yourself and ask for their support. Then, in times when your own will power may be wavering, your support group can bolster you up. Lisa’s family has been a huge support group for her, making sure that she makes it to Invictus despite her busy days at the Academy.
4. Keep it simple! Too often I see goals set that are way too complex, and frankly, unachievable. Keep the goal simple and achievable. If I were to ask you, on a scale of 1-10, how confident you feel about attaining your goal, I should hear you say 11! If you set realistic goals then you create an environment of success that continues to build. Many achievable, small goals turn into one large achievement. Lisa set a clear, achievable goal: attain 1 strict pull-up.
5. Stay positive. It is easy to get down on ourselves if we did not follow our game plan 100% or if we missed the target date set for our goal. Do everything in your power from giving into discouragement. This is the enemy! Acknowledge the misstep, then move on. The more you dwell on your perceived misstep, the more it can hinder your success. Lisa had to continue her work towards getting a pull-up, even changing her diet to lean out in order to help achieve her goal. There were times when she was discouraged at the length of time it took to accomplish her goal but she never let that discouragement override her determination as she got closer and closer to her first pull-up.

These five steps can be applied to any goal you set. I used my client’s pull-up accomplishment as an example, but I could reference many other clients’ successfully achieved goals of weight loss, athletic performance and lifestyle. If you would like to set up a time to meet with one of the Invictus coaches to have a goal setting session, please send an email to info@crossfitinvictus.com.