5 Fool Proof Steps To Set & Achieve Any Goal

by Trainer Davey and Jess Andersonpresented by TwoTri.com

Knowing how to set goals is an important skill to have and using that skill effectively will bring much benefit to your life. Practice it regularly and you could turn into an unstoppable achiever, living life to the fullest and choosing just what you’ll accomplish next. It is the one thing that truly can turn mere dreams into tangible reality.

On one hand, not using proper goal-setting principles can cause disastrous situations. Everyone knows at least one close friend who woke up one morning and felt as if they have wasted their entire life thus far. The tragedy continues as they go on to make irresponsible choices in a futile attempt to make up for lost time.

We’ve also heard the stories of the underdog pulling through to victory after a long road of trials and defeat. And in contrast, we hear of heartbreaking examples like this one: a 49-year old father of two kids, full of regrets about neglected health, lays dying in a hospital bed, wishing he would’ve quit smoking years ago.

As you can see, the simple act of setting good goals can be the difference between a lifetime of fulfilling happiness or the disappointment of what could have been.

“Did you know that the mere act of setting goals can make you twice as successful than not?”

Whether it ’s weight loss, health and fitness, career, finances, or relationships, here are

some reasons why goals will not only help you, but it will propel you into success.

Creating goals will:

• Make you a more happy and fulfilled person

• Fuel new motivation to achieve success

• Kill procrastination and get you to where you want to be sooner

• Be a positive influence to those around you

• Increase your rate of motion and keep you on track

• Help you avoid regretful choices and their consequences

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy

purpose." -Helen Keller

Step One: Choose Your Goal

Let’s get started with how to choose a goal. The most useful advice in first choosing a goal is to keep it reasonable. What this looks like is that it ’s better to choose a goal that you know you can actually achieve, rather than something high and lofty that you have to hope for.

Reasonable vs. challenging.One day a new client came into the gym and said his goal was to run a marathon in 3 months. He had a clear goal, which was great, however, after he started his training sessions, he admitted that he had never run more than 2 miles in his life and that he didn’t even like running. So, training to run a marathon in only 3 months with little previous running experience was unreasonable.

So we tweaked his goal and he completed his first sprint triathlon after 12 weeks of training. Training for a triathlon was a challenge for him, but it was also a reasonable goal.

If you‘re interested a 12 Week Sprint Triathlon Training Plan that will help you complete your first triathlon with fun and ease, click here.

One study showed that most women (over 80%) set unreasonable weight loss goals. Obviously, when they ended up far from achieving those goals, it caused unnecessary disappointment. The problem is that for most people, disappointment is not motivating and usually just leads to frustration.

Another study revealed that if a goal is challenging, yet still reasonable, it actually increases your motivation. The key here is to find balance.

This is a chance to get honest with yourself. Don’t worry about that co-worker can instantly drop pounds, or a friend that is always setting new PR’s…

This is all about YOU and no one else.

With that said, what is a reasonable goal that you know deep down you could achieve if you put your mind to it?

What will it take to reach your goal?

Here’s a good example when it comes to setting reasonable goals. Choosing a specific body weight or dress size that you’ve been in the past is a good place to start, because you know it’s possible because you’ve been there before.

Remember that you are looking for balance in a reasonable goal, though. For instance, if you want to loose 15 lbs and tone up, a picture of professional bodybuilder may not be the best motivation.

I’m not saying that it would be impossible, I’m just saying be reasonable, especially with your starting point.

Take AwayIt ’s better to set a goal that will be challenging, but you are confident that

you will be able to get there. Then from that point, with the energy flowing from your new accomplishment and a boost of self-esteem, set your next goal, and

go for it.

Looking for a fun way to lose weight, tone up, and accomplish an awesome goal all at the same time?

Then you have to check out TriathlonForWeightLoss.com!

Step Two: Get Crystal Clear About Your Goal

“I want to get in shape,” is something I hear a lot as a certified personal trainer. “Well, what specifically does that look like for you?” I’d always ask my clients.

The problem is, that goal is too general and not specific enough to hold any value or power in creating a change. Not only that, being “in shape” is vastly different according to everyone’s opinion. Then, because there is no time frame behind it, when will you end up starting? This month, next month, this year, or next year?

However, stating “I want to get back into shape by losing 15lbs, fitting back into my favorite jeans, and running my first half marathon at the Music City ½ Marathon on September 15th” is a perfect example.

When goal setting, include exactly what it is you want, when you want it, and why you want it.

You cannot make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific. – Zig Ziglar

Find something you can identify with.

Everyone is motivated by different factors, so the key is to discover what really motivates you. Here are a couple examples:

For years, Jess heard that is was important to drink water for many different health reasons – we all have. But when she finally heard that drinking lots of water will help her metabolism burn up to 11 pounds of body fat per year, suddenly she was topping off her water bottle and guzzling it down again.

A friend of mine talked about losing weight ever since I can first remember. His excuse went something like, “With my career and 3 kids, I just don’t have the time…” One day after he had a huge health scare at the doctor ’s office, he decided that he would rather make the time to workout than leave his beautiful children without a father. Amazingly, he figured out how to make the time – all because he found his driving motivation. Every morning his alarm clock went off an hour early, he would simply think of how much he loved his family, and that was enough to make him bound out of bed for a workout and healthy breakfast.

In becoming crystal clear with your goals, it helps to connect with the why behind it. You can do this by asking questions. Sure everyone wants to “be in great shape” or even “look good,” but why do you want to? Quite honestly, it could be for any reason. Just remember it has to truly resonate within you for it to work.

“Lose 20lbs and fit into a size 4 dress at my 10-year high school reunion in June.”

“Rekindle my relationship with husband/wife by spending 15 minutes talking together every day without cell phones or computers.”

“Lower my blood pressure to 120/80 by going for a 20-30 minute walk every day and skipping dessert.”

“Sign up for that photography class online so that I can learn the skills I need to start my own photography business.”

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”― Karen Lamb

One more helpful tip in setting a good goal is to keep it in a positive perspective and focus on the benefits that will come as a result.

Instead of a goal such as, “I’m going to stop making dumb food choices so I don’t feel like a fat failure,” try coming up with specific, actionable steps to support you in making responsible choices so that you “feel great about yourself by losing 15lbs.”

Step Two Take Away:Be sure that your new goal strikes a chord in your heart, and that

there is really good reason – or a powerful why – behind it.

Then keep your goal in a positive light and think about the numerous benefits that will result from accomplishing the goal. This will provide much more meaningful motivation that will in turn be more effective

and last longer.

Smarter Goals

Most everyone has already heard the SMART acronym for goal setting; that is, you should create specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. All these are great and extremely useful in goal setting. But I’d like to take it one step farther, because I truly believe there’s more to the formula.

The thing is, if your goal is not deeply meaningful to you, then it turns into just another chore that needs to be checked off the list. However, when you create a goal that stirs your soul, makes your heart beat a little faster, gets your creative juices flowing, lets you start dreaming again – a goal that creates a mental picture you long for – that’s when the stars begin to align.

Here are some words added to the SMART acronym that I believe boost its power by making it more personal:

Significant – a goal that captures and holds your attention

Meaningful – a goal that holds importance and purpose for your life

Action Oriented – a goal that can reasonably break down into a manageable, step-by-step system Rewarding – a goal that provides a sense of genuine accomplishment that you can be personally proud of image via

Trackable – a goal that will clearly demonstrate results by tracing progress

We’ll help you create and accomplish a really cool goal with ourBe Awesome Beginner Triathlon Training Plan.

Step Three: Commit To Your Goal

So many people fail because they say they want to do something but never lift a finger to do it. If you say that you have a goal, declare that you will complete your goal, and commit to it by following through. It only makes sense to follow up your declaration with some action.

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This first means changing your language from habitually weak words as:

“I’ll try to…” “I want to…” “I’d like to….”

Instead, begin using words backed with power such as:

“I declare that I will (complete goal).”

“I commit to doing (new goal).”

“I won’t give up until I accomplish (goal).”

When it comes to really achieving your goals, simply writing them down on paper is not enough—that’s just the beginning, and we’ll get there in a minute. Goal setting is not just about setting the right goals; the critical factor of goal setting success is taking consistent action towards them. Don’t worry, that’s not as hard as it sounds. Now that you have your new goal and are willing to commit to it, you’ll take it apart and break it down. Considering a new goal can be extremely intimidating and overwhelming, but there is hope. That’s why we will start with baby steps.

Let’s take training for your first triathlon as an example. Just the thought of swimming, biking, running and transitioning between three sports in one event can be a scary thought. Where do you even start? How do you start? When do you start?

Start by breaking down each sport individually. It looks something like this: You decide your goal will be to finish your first triathlon, and you will train for it in 12 weeks. Break it down into individual sports, and decide which triathlon you will sign up for. Take it week by week. List out a reasonable action plan with a schedule something like this:

Week OneSunday: Buy some new running shoes, and walk/run for 15 minutesMonday: Call friend to ask about borrowing old bikeWednesday: Swim at gym pool for 10 minutes after work

You get the idea….

Next, be honest with yourself such as, “Swimming is not my strong point so I’ll focus on basic swimming techniques for the first four weeks.

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Then add some milestones. “Half way through, at six weeks, I will be able to swim for 15 minutes without stopping, bike 10 miles in less than 45 minutes, and run for 2 miles without stopping.”

“At week 8 in my training, I will begin practicing transitioning between sports. Refer to my 12 Week Triathlon Training Plan to get help with this.”

Take AwayJust like climbing Mt Everest one step at a time, taking on your new goal with a step-by-step action plan will make it much easier and

more manageable. Drill into the specifics and set a course of action with a schedule. That way you will easily accomplish your first triathlon!

We break down each aspect of training into a simple, step-by-step video plan. Check it out at TriathlonPersonalTrainer.com.

Step Four: Support Yourself In Your Goal

Remember last year how you completely forgot about your New Year ’s resolutions until somehow you were reminded many months later? “Oh yeah, wasn’t I going to do that…?” What good is setting a goal if you just forget about it?

Consider a few more helpful tips that will support following through with your new goal. First, visualize it until you can see it happen crystal clear in your mind’s eye. Be imaginative by seeing yourself arriving at your goal, hear the sounds, feel what it ’s like, and put yourself in a mocked up scenario. I realize this sounds a bit hypothetical and a lot like positive thinking, however, numerous studies provide overwhelming evidence that this technique works very well.

Do this because it works. Really.

Along with this, find a picture that helps you visualize your new goal and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day. Then write yourself reminder notes, memos, put it on your calendar, into your schedule, and anything else that will keep your goal fresh on your mind and on the forefront of daily activity.

Zig Ziglar is one of my favorite authors. In his book Better Than Good, he told the story about when he decided to lose lots of weight and regain his health. He put a picture of a men’s underwear advertisement on his bathroom mirror. It helped remind him of his goal multiple times a day, and that helped him reach it – quicker and easier. It ’s a great story if you want to pick up the book.

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a flash on inspiration, or the answer to an ongoing problem? That’s your subconscious at work. It’s something God build into your mind;

use it as a tool to your advantage.

When I was preparing to compete at Model America in Las Vegas, I wrote, “I’m A Fitness Model,” in huge letters and put a picture of what I wanted to look like directly above my computer screen. It helped drill it into my subconscious and made me constantly think about – and stay true to – my goal. This same practice will help you visualize it, as well as constantly remind you of your new goals. If you can’t first see it and believe it to happen, then it simply never will.

“You’re Awesome!”

Similarly, when I wanted to marry Jess, I printed a picture of a huge diamond wedding ring. Everyday when I saw it, I thought of how much I wanted to married her. Trust me, it kept me motivated to continue moving forward with my plans until the day I got down on one knee to propose.

Find as use accountability for support.

You’ll also find accountability very supportive in goal setting. Maybe you’re a lone wolf and would rather set out on your own, but let me tell you how important accountability can be. Remember in college when you had the pressure of turning in a paper on time? That was accountability. When you have someone grade you, check up on you, or take measurements regularly you will always perform better. It ’s because of the social pressure.

Find a friend or family member, someone that is reliable, to support you with your goal. Set up a system where they check up on you regularly. Besides, we are humans, and I believe we were made to operate by supporting each other in community. You can even create incentives, penalties, or place bets to add more fun and, you guessed it, accountability.

If you’d really like to step up your game are start taking back serious ground in any area of your life, consider hiring a life coach.

Hiring Doug, my life coach, was by far the best thing I’ve ever committed to personally. He quickly helped me navigate obstacles that were consistently holding me back in life and showed me how to find breakthrough and create many new possibilities.

Click here to learn more about Doug’s coaching!

Take awayBy visualizing yourself achieving your goal until you can see it happen crystal

clear in your mind’s eye and reminding yourself regularly, you’ll recruit the power of your subconscious to your team. That by itself will support lasting

goal achievement. Surround yourself in a community that aligns with your new goal and find solid accountability to help keep you on track.

Get the help and accountability of a personal trainer at TriathlonPersonalTrainer.com.

Step Five: Redirecting Your Goal

What happens when your goals don’t work out in the end? What happens when the dream crashes and burns resulting in frustration, disappointment, and devastation?

You knew it all along. Your new goal soon fades into failure…again?

Let me tell you what not to do before I talk about what to do. These are lessons I’ve gained from hard-knock experience, and I hope you can learn from some of my mistakes. If I’m honest with you, I have to say that I’ve had countless disappointments that have cut so deep sometimes it makes it hard to get up and try again. Plus, I consider myself a “dreamer” and it’s easy to get my hopes up too quickly about a new goal and then become deeply disappointed when life doesn’t happen the way I thought it could.

In the Be Awesome Triathlon Training Plan for Beginners, our mission is to inspire people to try again and this time be successful!

Growing up in a high-performance environment is something I appreciate, although somewhere along the way I picked up the tendency to beat myself up over simple mistakes. And worst, I can quickly conclude that my mistakes or lack of follow through is equates utter failure. Instead of this negative energy motivating me to press on and give it another shot, it de-motivates and drains me. If unchecked, this situation can easily turn into a downward spiral leading to depression – not helpful for anyone in the present let alone my future goals.

“Two plus two equals four, but trying and not succeeding does not make you a failure.”

Start with a commitment to be objective and explore reasons as to why it didn’t work out the way you first hoped it would. You can be honest with yourself, because again, you’re not accusing or faultfinding. You are simply observing the situation with fascination and asking questions to discover solutions for future use.

Was it your being lazy and not truly following through with a valid effort? Or did you really go after your goal with everything you had only to realize it was unreasonable? Take another look at your goal with a new perspective, and then reanalyze your situation. Whatever the reason turns out to be, practice observing the situation objectively rather than assigning any good/bad meaning and taking it personally.

This brings us back to finding a healthy balance. You can still have a dream and be driven by a solid goal, but you don’t have to take it personally and get your feelings hurt by a setback. Don’t let a fumble take you out of the game: just get back out there and do your best in the next play.

Perhaps you discovered that your first attempts didn’t fit into your schedule quite right, or it didn’t seem like it would be sustainable for your lifestyle. That’s fine, but now the trick is to try again to find something that fits and something that works. Try again.

Maybe all you need to do is make some minor tweaks to the game plan and you’ll be back on track and closer to a win.

Take awayEveryone makes mistakes and will experience setbacks; that’s a simple fact. When it happens, it ’s easy to take it personally, get discouraged, and start down the road of defeating thoughts. But that doesn’t help anyone, and it

sure doesn’t help you. Take back the reigns with a new mental perspective by being observant and staying objective in the situation. Take a step back to see what worked, what did not support you, and discover how you can make

minor changes in your next attempt. Keep trying, because you’ll be a step closer every time. You’re almost there.

Quickly get back on track or start a new goal with all our helpful tips at TwoTri.com.

5 Steps To Set And Achieve Any Goal Recap

1. Choose a goal that’s reasonable, yet will provide enough challenge to keep you motivated.

2. Get clear with your goal by being very specific, choosing a goal you can identify with, and focusing of the positive benefits of reaching your goal.

3. Commit to your goal by establishing a game plan containing small, manageable steps that you can easily track to see progress.

4. Support yourself in your goal with visualization, constant reminders, pictures, and accountability from trusted friends or a life coach.

5. Use a redirect plan with your goal by not getting upset with yourself if things don’t seem to go as planned, but be open to make small changes and try again.

Would you dream again?

Dream again, this time with a really good goal to back it up?

Fill out the worksheet on the next page to get started right now; then join us on a new and exciting journey at TwoTri.com.

My New Goal:

What I commit to: ____________________________________________________________

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By when: ______________________________________________________________________

Why I will do this: ______________________________________________________________

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Who will keep me accountable: _______________________________________________

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Benefits from completing this goal: ____________________________________________

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“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” -C.S. Lewis

My New Goal:

What I commit to: ____________________________________________________________

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By when: _____________________________________________________________________

Why I will do this: ____________________________________________________________

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Who will keep me accountable: ______________________________________________

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Benefits from completing this goal: ___________________________________________

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“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” -C.S. Lewis