Why You're Struggling to Reach Your Goals
Let’s get clear on what values are, and how they differ from goals.
Your values are the principles you live by.
They represent who you want to be, what you stand for, and how you want to show up in your life. Think of your values as your North Star, guiding you along your journey and helping you make decisions based on what’s most important to you. These may include things like courage, independence, flexibility, or growth.
Goals are the destination or the end result.
Goals are something you can achieve or cross off your list, such as learning to do a pull-up, running a marathon, or losing a certain percentage of body fat.
One of the most common reasons folks struggle to get results is a disconnect between their values and their goals. They know the outcome they want to achieve, but don’t consider their values in the execution.
If your goals and actions don’t align with your values, that’s what we call a values discrepancy and a values discrepancy can lead to three major problems:
You’re setting goals that don’t truly align with what’s important to you and how you want to live your life — meaning you’ll struggle with consistency and motivation.
You know the results you want to achieve, but the behaviors you’re zeroing in on to get there aren’t realistic or sustainable for you. When your day-to-day actions feel forced, it’s a recipe for burnout.
The work you put in toward your goals won’t feel deeply fulfilling or meaningful.
When your goals align with your values, the work you put into achieving them feels purposeful and gratifying. In other words, the day-to-day efforts — whether that’s getting more exercise, improving your sleep habits, or eating more vegetables — are actually enjoyable. And when the effort is enjoyable, you’re more likely to continue doing it!
5 Steps to Setting Value Based Goals
Get clear on your values. Keep the following prompt in mind while you make your selections: When you think of your body, health, and fitness, which values do you most strongly identify with? Next, narrow that list down to only your top five values. Then, narrow those five down to your top three (in order of importance). Now that you’re equipped with your top three values, you can get to work setting those goals!
Set your outcome-based goal. These are often numbers-focused, like losing a certain number of pounds or doing 20 push-ups. Only work on one or two outcome-based goals at a time. Any more than that will divide your focus and energy, resulting in burnout. Be prepared to work on your goal(s) for 12 weeks.
Determine your behavior-based goal(s). These are the specific action steps you are ready, willing, and able to take each day (or a few times a week) to move toward your ultimate goal. They allow you to consistently rack up small wins and gain a sense of ongoing achievement. Establish one or two behavior-based goals to get you started, such as strength training three times a week and/or eating two servings of veggies with at least two meals a day.
Plan your action steps. To determine your action steps, think about exactly what you need to complete your behavior-based goals. This is the “what, where, when, and how” portion of your plan.
Anticipate obstacles and create a backup plan. Obstacles are the potential barriers that prevent you from achieving behavior-based goals. Take a moment to envision the goal you’ll be working toward for the next 12 weeks. What obstacles might pop up and prevent you from achieving your behavior-based goals? Maybe it's working long hours, family obligations, or an old injury flaring up. Make a list of the five most likely possibilities, and create a backup plan for navigating each one.
Congratulations, you’ve completed the five steps! This can be challenging work, so high fives for that! Now you’re ready to put the plan into action and start working toward your goal.
