What if I told you there was only ONE thing you had to change to be happier/more fulfilled/ successful?

Would you believe me? Would you try it?

It’s a hard thing to change, I myself have fallen short many times.

What is it?

Your mind.

Cliche, I know, but I promise this post gets better so keep reading.

Most people hate change. Why? Cause it’s different. Cause we are comfortable with the way things currently are. And even if we are uncomfortable in some aspects of life (relationship, weight, career, etc) it’s easier to stay uncomfortable than to actually do something about it. AmIRight?!

So not only am I telling you that you need to change, I’m telling you that you need to change the hardest part. Skeptical yet? It’s okay, don’t be.

How do we change our mind? By putting systems in place in our life that allow us to cultivate the life we aspire to have. The simplest and easiest system is GOAL Setting.

Goal Setting allows you to focus on slowly changing one piece of the pie at a time. Trying to go 100% all out, in a new direction will most likely cause you to fail. You’ll say “this sucks/isn’t worth it/is too hard” and will give up because you are frustrated. Goal setting allows you to feel successful in the little victories, which lead to the big victories.

When was the last time you set a goal for yourself?

If you’re like most people, it was probably to meet a deadline at work, or to have the house clean before company came over. More often than not, adults only know how to goal set things “they really don’t care about but are important to other people so they attempt to make it a priority.” Sound familiar?

And even though you didn’t really care about the goal specifically, only the side effects (keeping your job, not being judged by your in-laws), you still managed to get it done. Now think about what would happen if you goal set something you actually cared about? How powerful would that be? The euphoria you feel when you achieve something that really matters to you is indescribable. It’s also somewhat addicting.

I have 2 sizes of goals, Big Goals and Mini Goals. Mini Goals are the baby steps I take to achieve the Big Goals.

Hopefully you’re bought into goal setting at this point. I’m going to share a bit of my life/goals so you can see how I personally apply this to my life

Currently, one of my Big Goals (for myself) is to live the happiest and healthiest life while inspiring others to do the same. How do I do this? By creating systems to ensure I am meeting my mini goals.

1. I use the free app, MyFitnessPal to track oz of water, total calories, % of carbs/fats/proteins. When I drink 80ish oz of water & consistently eat a low carb/ketogenic diet I am MUCH happier. Logging my food & water ensures I am staying on track.
2. Social Media- I have an Instagram account solely dedicated to staying inspired, as well as inspiring others to live a healthy & fit life. ( @allison_chamberlin)
3. Fitbit- I have had a Fitbit for 3 years and it has definitely been the easiest way to stay motivated and to push myself. First Goal of the day is to hit my step goal, then if I’m feeling extra I’ll pick a person who is “ahead” of me in weekly steps and challenge myself to beat them. Being competitive helps 😉 . I can invite people to weekly or daily challenges. There are so many easy ways to stay accountable when you have an activity tracker.
4. Daily workouts- I work out 5-6 days a week and I would be lying if I said I was ALWAYS motivated. Sometimes it sucks to hit the gym alone, sometimes I’d rather be sleeping, and sometimes I feel “too stressed” to give myself the gift of gym time. But if I can get myself to the gym, or to a part of the house where I can workout, then I’m golden. The hardest part is showing up. Once I get going if I’m still kind of half-assing it then I redirect my attention. It’s not about the entire workout, it’s about what I’m doing right now. I tell myself “I just have to make it through this set” and then I push myself to make it through another, and another.
5. Rewards- When I reallllly want something extra (workout clothes, shoes, etc) I make myself work for it. Example: Stay on track for 2 weeks with no junk food and you can order X,Y, or Z. Feeling like you are working towards something other than just “being fit” is sometimes the extra motivation you need.

Here’s how all of that actually occurs in my daily life.

Typically I work out before work, but this is ESPECIALLY true on Mondays. There is no better way for me to start my work week than kicking ass at the gym and rolling into work still high on endorphins. When I went to sleep Sunday night I told myself “You’re going to have an amazing week and you’re going to kick off Monday with a killer workout & eat all the healthy things you meal-prepped.” However, yesterday I totally slept through my alarms and missed my AM gym session. Okay, no big deal, I can still have a good day I thought to myself as I scrambled in & out of the shower. I made a plan to hit the gym after work & packed my gym bag. I was determined to have a successful day and not let A THING get in my way. And you know what, Monday was freaking great. I smiled the whole way to work, took care of business, ate all the healthy things (& logged them in MyFitnessPal) and then KILLED it at the gym. I pushed myself by up’ing all my weights in the leg workout I was doing & then decided to push myself and get on the stair master for 10 minutes before leaving. 3 minutes into the stair master I was dying. My new goal was “make it to 5 minutes”. 5 minutes came and my legs were still attached so my next goal was “make it to 10 minutes”, then it became “make it to the end of this song”, which led to”make it to your step goal”, which turned into “make it to 400 calories burned” and finally, “make it to 20 minutes”. 21 stair master minutes later, my sweat was sweating! I had achieved all my goals. I more than doubled my original goal and broke the mental barriers I put up along the way. I came home and was in the best dang mood –being all silly and dancing around the kitchen with my dogs and my husband jokingly said “Who are you? Where is the woman I married?” The endorphins were REALLLLL you guys!

This is only ONE example of how I use goal setting to live my best life. I apply it in every aspect of my life, but I’ll save those examples for another day 🙂

 

Moral of the story: If you want to change your life, you have to change your mind. If you want to change your mind, you have to do it slowly. Goal setting will help you change your lifestyle in a realistic manner and allow you to be happy during the process, cause who doesn’t love achieving a goal?

XOXO,

Allison