One of the biggest components of success is to know where you want to go and how to get there. This means setting a variety of goals, both large and small. So you know your big goal, to lose weight, get fit or both. But how are you going to get there? Start with small changes to get big results.
It can be overwhelming to change everything at once. According to Dr. James Beckerman, its best to “think big, start small” to set yourself up for success. For instance, if your goal is to run a 5K by the end of summer, you need to train for it. If you aren’t running now, you need to begin slowly. Maybe with a walk to run program or by increasing the number of times a week you run now. If you’re looking to lose weight, try swapping out the sodas for water or swapping some of your potatoes for other vegetables.
Once you’ve made the first change, build on it with a second. Once the second change is successfully implanted, you can add another. Slowly but surely, all these changes add up. Before you know it, you’ll be hitting those initial goals and moving on to the next. Focus on the small goals along the way, otherwise you might “set yourself up for disappointment by focusing on how far you are from your big-picture goals,” says Beckerman. “Set yourself up to succeed by zeroing in on all the small steps and mini-accomplishments along the way. Going running one day a week is a success if you weren’t running at all. But it’s a failure if you only think about the larger goal of exercising every day. Think big, start small, and set yourself up to succeed”.
Change can be challenging, after all, it’s doing something different and out of your comfortable routine. Accept the challenge, enjoy the accomplishments and reach your goals. Then use those accomplishments to set new goals.