Happy New Year!
I’m looking forward to a big 2019 together.
As you think about all the changes you want to make in 2019, I want to give you a simple framework to follow for each goal.
This could be finally doing something for fitness, achieving a financial outcome, or changing a behavior that affects your relationship or family life.
1. Recognize The Need to Change: I've always said that being self-aware is one of highest skills we can learn as humans. Being self-aware of what motivates us, how we come across to people, and just generally being aware of how everything effects us and how we affect others. That being said, if you're looking to change you first need to recognize that you need to change.
2. What Does Success Look Like: If you could wave a magic wand and you're living the perfect version of what you want to change is, what does that look like. Write down a clear picture of what success looks like so that you have a visual target to go after.
3. The One Thing: What is one thing you can do today to start moving towards that picture you painted above. The biggest hurdle people face in change is they try to conquer it all, get overwhelmed, and end up not doing anything to help them progress closer to what success looks like to them. The one thing. It could be filling out an inquiry form on a gym's website, it could be setting up the bank account that you're going to automatically transfer savings too, or it could be going into your schedule and blocking off from 6 pm on so that you can be home with your family. The one thing is important not because of what it is, it's going to be tied to your goal, it's important because it's only one thing.
4. Set Mini Milestones: Depending on what you're trying to change, it's going to be a long-term journey filled with ups and downs. In order to keep you motivated and on track it's important to break it down to mini milestones. For example, on your journey of losing 50lbs, maybe it's showing up at the gym 10x this month.
**Important to note here is the need for process-based goals or milestones. Notice the difference between a goal of losing 10 pounds (outcome) versus getting 100 workouts in the next six months (process). Process based goals are 100% in your control and they lead to the outcome that you want. Don’t just focus on the outcome based goal, more importantly, determine the process based goal that is going to lead to the desired outcome.
5. Show up daily: 1% Better. I have yet to find anyone that shows up daily and does not see progress in whatever they're working on changing and improving. It doesn't matter if it's fitness, business, or life, it's about showing up daily and doing the best you can with the cards you're dealt that day. There is no magic pill, there is no shortcut, there is no secret, it's just showing up consistently, day after day, month after month, year after year. That's the secret.
Change is hard.
Follow these five steps and hopefully, it gives you some guidance as you go through the journey and make 2019 your best year yet.
1% Better.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Doug Spurling