I don’t know about you but most people I talk to are past that stage of life where they make New Years Resolutions but for me, I still love this time of year to reset myself.



I read this quote once, I can’t remember where, and in Googling it I have seen it attributed to at least three authors, but the general concept is that there are three core components of happiness. In order to be happy you need someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to.



In other words, your happiness level is determined by the people you surround yourself with, daily meaningful actions and what you look forward to in life.



And I get that some people feel stuck and that they feel they don’t have anything to look forward to but for me, something to look forward to might be a goal I want to reach, a trip I want to go on, a person I want to see or a course I want to take. All of those are in my control, they don’t rely on someone else to contribute to my happiness. And notice it doesn’t say to be loved by someone, it is someone to love. Love is a verb and it is something we can choose to do. And as an animal lover, yes, I think your pets count!



And as for something to do, well, having a goal takes care of that. So let me talk about goals for a second. Because in order to reach your goal you need to have a few key components in place.



Four Keys for Goal Setting & Achieving



1) You need to know what it is you want to achieve and you have to know how you know you have achieved it. In others words, it is Specific and Measurable.



For example, if weight loss is a goal, well, maybe you know you have achieved it when you see a certain number on a scale, or maybe it’s when you fit back into those jeans. But if ‘getting in shape’ is your goal, well that is more vague, so you need to make it more specific. Maybe it is when you can walk 4500 steps in a day without pain, or maybe it is when you can run 5 kilometres. Maybe it is when you can get up off the floor without your hands or maybe it is when you can do a pullup. It doesn’t matter what the measurement is, it just matters that you have one that is meaningful to you.



2) You need to externalize it. This means you need to write it down or you need to tell someone. Write down what it is, how you know you have achieved it and the actions you are going to take (and when) in order to achieve it.



A goal is just a dream if it lives in your head and your imagination. In order to make it a goal it needs to be externalized, you need to make it measurable and you need to know how you are going to make it happen because goals are executed, dreams are not.



3) You need to do ‘the reps‘. If you want to get physically stronger, you need to go to they gym and do the reps. In other words, you need to take daily action. And in order to take action, you need to know what to do of course.



This is where an expert or a person with experience comes in. In this day and age it is almost impossible to want to do something that someone before you hasn’t done, and close to impossible to someone who hasn’t written about it. And so, whatever you want to do, do your research and find out how others did it before you. Find the plan that resonates best with you and start. Now.



And this is important…



And you really should start quickly, otherwise the Law of Diminishing Intent starts to take over. You are super motivated when the idea strikes and then just as quickly you lose that motivation and go back to your old ways. Unfortunately most healthy goals require you to do things that aren’t fun. And that is ok. You don’t have to love the process. If it is important enough for you then the reward is the accomplishment.



4) And so the last key is to embrace the suck. If every person who wanted to write a book believed every day of writing was seamless and fun, well then we probably wouldn’t have many books in this world. The same goes for losing weight or getting in shape. It isn’t ‘fun’ to skip dessert or get up and out for your workouts, but the reward is amazing. And if you don’t believe me, check out this blog post where I explain how your brain actually grows when you do things you don’t want to do! You are literally building your motivation muscles up in your brain!

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