Self-sabotage or Success

Is self-sabotage holding you back from achieving your goals? If you’ve ever set a goal and struggled to achieve it, you’re not alone! Over 80% of people fail to stick with their New Year’s resolutions. Why is this number so high? Simply wanting something isn’t enough to maintain the discipline, determination, and focus to achieve it. Life will get hard. Stumbling blocks will find their way into your path. You will want to quit. Success in setting (and achieving) short, medium, and long-term goals comes down to a few key factors.

Know where you are starting.

It’s challenging to figure out where you’re headed if you don’t know where you’re starting.

If your goal is to drink a gallon of water a day, start by tracking how much water you currently drink each day. Determine when you’re drinking water and how much. Then look for ways to increase your water consumption throughout the day to achieve your goal.

Trainer Tip: What would you hope to achieve by drinking a gallon of water a day? Consider asking a friend or family member to join you on your journey and help keep each other accountable through text messages or social media.

Want to run a half marathon? How frequently are you currently running and how many miles do you average each time? Do you have a race that you’d like to train for? Start with the end in mind and work backwards. If you would like to run a half marathon in 10 weeks and you are currently running two to three times a week for about three miles each time, adding one mile per week will get you to your goal.

Trainer Tip: Signing up for a race gives you a goal–something to train for!

Determine if your goal is S.M.A.R.T.

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

This acronym can be applied to fitness goals or business goals. When written down, S.M.A.R.T. goals help you identify the following:

• What you’re going to do (Specific).
• How you’ll know you’ve achieved it (Measurable).
• Why it’s actually something you can do (Attainable).
• If it is something you should do (Realistic).
• When you’ll do it (Time-bound).

Prepare for potential pit-falls.

As life would have it, situations beyond your control can occur. However, we may also inadvertently self-sabotage ourselves on our way towards our goals. What does it mean to self-sabotage? Dictionary.com defines sabotage as, “Any underhand interference with production,” or “Any undermining of a cause.” Why would anyone set a goal only to get in their own way? It’s human nature to seek self-preservation even if it’s not a life-threatening situation. Self-preservation can be as simple as choosing what’s easy over what helps get you closer to your goal.

Identifying self-sabotaging behaviors is the first step to reducing potential roadblocks on your way towards your goals. If you know you’re getting up at 6:00 a.m. for a long run, staying up until 1:00 a.m. or enjoying more than a couple of glasses of wine does not set you up for success when your alarm goes off.

Trainer Tip: Don’t try to overhaul your life in one week. Identify one behavior that is limiting you in achieving your goal. Tell a friend or coach, to help you with accountability.

The key to success with any goal is to create a plan and have clarity in why you are doing what you are doing. Don’t jump in headfirst until you know where you’re starting, why you’re doing what you’re doing, and how (and who) can help set you up for success.