Getting stuck on the way to your goal?

I was in my dental hygienist’s chair the other day getting my teeth cleaned. She was chatting back and forth with one of the dental assistants. They were joking about the thigh toning exercises they had done in the office that morning and planning an exercise regiment to do at the office during their down times between patients. They were teasing each other about all that they could accomplish and how sore they were. But I got to thinking as I heard them chat back and forth about the power of what they are trying to do together. You see, making goals, well that’s easy. It’s the actual change in behavior that is the real challenge, and then changing the behavior for the long term that is the even bigger challenge. But some of the things that these two women had going for them, were setting them up for success. Let me share a little of what they had going for them, that you could use too, to make that goal that you want to achieve stick!

They:

Put their energy into making a goal that they are really excited about: with summer coming they are excited about the possibility of toning their muscles to fit in their clothes better

They have each other to not only keep them accountable to hitting the goal they set out for, but also to make it fun by doing it with together.

They chose a method to reach their goal that they found fun and enjoyable. The process to getting to the goal is just as important as getting to the goal itself.- They are doing it together and laughing at the funniness of how it looks and how they have to do it at the office.

They chose a convenient time and place to achieve their goal.- They are doing it at work where they need to be anyway and using time that they would normally have empty. They decided that they didn’t want to do another exercise that would cause them to get sweaty because that wouldn’t be convenient at work.

Here are some other things to keep in mind to help you be able to stick your goals:

Make it something that you can measure and will have specific marker to let you know you have succeeded.

Provide yourself with incentives as you work toward your goal. Adults like prizes too! Celebrate the large and small wins as you work toward your goal.