So far, we have discussed aims, goals and processes but haven’t actually touched on the most difficult part of setting goals – following through with it all. Provided your aims, goals, mini goals and process goals are all aligned with your values this should be somewhat easy to do, but this is not always the case.
As such, to round off this module and the course itself, we will outline some strategies for improving your adherence and therefore your results.
The first tip we can offer is to create accountability. Staying on track with a goal can be difficult even if it is a SMART one, and so it can be important to have peers helping you along. Peer supported lifestyle interventions are shown to be more successful than interventions undertaken alone, and so confiding in a friend, loved one or paid coach can be a valuable asset. If none of these are possible, social media peer groups can be an effective tool (though not as effective as face-to-face support). Not only will this keep you accountable, it can allow for an objective view of your progress. This means that you won’t adjust your approach unnecessarily, and you don’t carry on doing something that isn’t working.
When writing your goals, it’s imperative that you understand yourself. That means understanding what your aims are and the reason they matter to you before writing SMART goals, and knowing your mentality towards the trade-off between easy change and quick change as per the time/severity spectrum. A slow and steady approach makes it easy for some and boring for others, and knowing where you stand can be very powerful.
Not only that, you need to know your schedule, your dieting history and preferred approaches and everything else that might be relevant. Do you prefer a certain macronutrient ratio (that provides all you need)? Do you prefer a certain eating schedule, or a given exercise modality? You cannot force yourself to do things like a self-controlling tyrant, all you can do is coerce yourself towards more positive behaviours with which you identify and agree.
Know who you are and what you can do, rather than setting yourself up to fail.
Eating well starts in the supermarket, because your diet ‘lives’ in the kitchen. Be sure to surround yourself with the foods that will promote health and success in your goals, while minimising the influence of those foods around which you struggle to control yourself. Be flexible and allow yourself the pleasures that food can offer, but always keep that in context.
Small wins are very short-term, easy-to-achieve goals designed to build-up momentum. Perhaps you start each morning by making your bed, or you clean your kitchen after each meal, making it pleasant to cook in. Neither of these things will improve your body composition directly, but they will give you a greater sense of self-efficacy and control which is associated with greater successes in health interventions. Believing in yourself is important, and succeeding with small goals is one way to manage that.
Notice your habits because these can sabotage your adherence without you realising. Recognise your routines and hone in on your cues. By altering these and making positive actions habitual, success becomes habitual too.
In line with what we mentioned earlier, setting one SMART goal for the entire time that you are chasing an aim is unlikely to be an effective strategy. There are exceptions, of course, but if your aim is over 6 months away you’re probably going to benefit from doing it in stages, perhaps taking breaks or short-term diversions to keep yourself interested and raring to go. A successful 18 month approach with 6 months of breaks is far more useful than an unsuccessful, break-free 12 month one.
This largely speaks for itself. Your aim needs to be something that matters, it must be something you truly value. It’s an unquestionable fact that any goal or aim that has no intrinsic value to you will be very difficult to chase once it becomes difficult to do so, meaning that identifying your values and aligning your aims and goals with them can make the difference between an exercise in restriction and tedium, and an engaging process of self-improvement.
And finally, the best way to adhere to something is to make it easy to adhere to, and the tracking levels we’ve laid out are a perfect example of this. You get around 80% of the benefit from something thanks to 20% of the work that you do, so don’t be afraid to cut off some excess complications in order to improve your day-to-day adherence. If you can reach your ideal calorie balance with 3 gym sessions and 4 days of walking, then don’t do more than that. If you can reach your goal on 1800 calories and properly planned meals made up of whole foods then don’t download an app and measure protein. Your approach should be as complex as it needs to be and no more.