Health Articles

Do you want to know the #1 secret to achieving your dreams and optimum health?  It is probably not what you think it is.  It is nothing fancy, grueling or     impossible for the average person to do.  It’s quite             simple really. 

The #1 secret to success is having written goals.

A study done at Harvard Business School wanted to look at the importance of setting goals. They found 84% of graduates had no specific goals at all, 13% had goals but were not written down, and only 3% had clear written goals and a strategy to accomplish them.

The results were shocking – the 3% who had written goals and a strategy were earning on average 10x as much as the other 97% combined! [1]

If you’re going to be successful at anything you must have written goals and a strategy to get what you want. One of my favorite success coaches of all time, Zig Ziglar, says, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”  What are your life goals? What are your health goals? Do you have a clearly defined plan to achieve what you want? Do you even know what you’re aiming for?

If not,  Brian Tracy says the four main excuses people make as to why they don’t have written goals are:

• They didn’t realize the importance of goals
• They didn’t know how to write goals
• Afraid to fail
• Fear of rejection

Don’t let these little excuses get in the way of you achieving and living your dreams. I’m going to address the first two excuses below, and as for the last two, my mom always used to say, “If you shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll still be with the stars.” If you set a goal to lose 10 lbs and only lose 8… who cares, it’s better than losing none!

Here’s what you need to do when setting goals:

1)   Write or type your goals down on paper

2)   Make sure your goals are clearly defined and specific

3)   Set a date of when your goals should be achieved by

4)   Make your goals measurable

5)   Put your goals up where you can see them everyday (bathroom mirror)

6)   Create a strategy for achieving your goals

7)   Determine WHY you need to achieve your goal (what’s your inspiration)

Example:

Goal: Lose 20 lbs

Strategy: Follow the Healing Foods diet, eat a coconut berry smoothie for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and meat and steamed vegetables for dinner. Exercise 3x a week on Mon, Wed, Fri @ 7:00am (weight training 20 minutes and burst training 10 minutes)

Deadline: Lose 20 lbs in 40 days by June 30th

Once it’s written, put your goals up somewhere you can see them everyday like your bathroom mirror. Also, if you fall off track and eat a whole pizza and half a tub of Rocky Road… then just jump right back on track. It’s ok.

If you want to increase your chance of success even more, get an accountability partner to do this with you.

So let the goal setting begin! Aim for success, and even if you miss, you’re still a star!

What are your goals? What is your strategy for achieving them?

[1] McCormack, Mark “What They Still Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School”, New York: Bantam Books, 1989.