How to set goals for the New Year?

Have you ever set a new year resolution to ‘get fit’? Have you ever joined the mad January rush just to drop off come to February? I know I have.  The most popular resolution for 2021? you guessed it… To exercise more and get fitter – on average only 10% of people who set new years resolution feel like they hit them by the end of the year.  One of the main reasons they fail? Setting an unrealistic goal and having no plan in place to reach the goal, we know that 2022 will be here before we know. So we’ve pulled together our best tips on how to set goals for the New Year and succeed.

Defining a time frame

We’re impatient by nature and a lot of the time we expect results instantly, but in reality, it takes time and patience to succeed. The first tip is to give yourself a realistic time frame for your goal, this will help you to feel less pressure, be more flexible and more likely to succeed.

By giving yourself more time, in the long run, allows you to set up small, mid and longer-term goals that allow you to stay more committed, motivated and consistent in your training.

Small and Mid Term Goals

Anyone who sets a goal for a year’s time is going to have their work cut out for them to stay committed, motivated and consistent with such a long time frame. Therefore setting yourself Small and Mid goals allow you to hit PBs and feel like your progressive.

Short Term Goals

A short term goal will be around 4 weeks but you can do less than that if you want to set yourself weekly challenges for example but a short-term goal, in general, is something you want to do in the near future and you want to accomplish soon. These short term goals should contribute to your overall long term goal. for example, If you want to hit a back squat of a certain KG by the end of the year, you can set yourself 4-week PBs with your programming. This is a great way to see progression but also keep yourself feeling motivated and lead to more chances of success in your long term goal.

Mid Term Goals

A Midterm goal will normally be around your mid waypoint, so if you’ve given yourself 12 months then your want to be setting yourself a goal for around 6 months. These midterm goals should also contribute to your overall long term goal. for example, If you want to hit a back squat of a certain KG by the end of the year, you can set a 6month testing session and aim to be at least 50% or so closer to your final goal. This is also a great way to assess your progress, do you need more time, are there things you need to adapt.

Approach-Oriented Goals

When you sit down to think about your long term goal, make sure to set yourself up mentally for success as well as physically with a plan. A recent study showed that approach-oriented goals have stronger ties to long-term success than avoidance-oriented goals.

What does this mean?

Well, when framing your goal instead of looking at it from a negative standpoint, view your goals through a positive lens. We need to consider the wording we use to describe our goals, so instead of telling yourself, “I must accomplish this or I will fail,” think of what you can realistically do using your current resources and programming. Performance anxiety can cause you to overlook important details, so reviewing your goals (short and mid-term) is key to success.

So why not look at reframing your wording, if someone wants to get stronger an approach-oriented mindset looks at the positive, that even if the end goal needs to be changed or adapted you’ll be stronger than you would at the start, an avoidance-oriented mindset, would be scared to start with the fear of not being able to get stronger. A person with an approach-oriented mindset is more likely to succeed due to positive internal motivation.

Take time to reflect on past failures and learn

We are conditions to think of a new year as a fresh start, we look forward with plans and positivity but it’s important to not forget what we have learnt over the past.

Retrospective can be a great tool when setting yourself up for future success. You can identify key things that may lead to previous failing or set you back in your progress. From self-sabotage to other external factors outside of your control, it can be useful to list these and build a plan to overcome them this time.

When you can preempt potential roadblocks you’ll be able to overcome them more easily this time. Short and Mid-term goals will also help you to navigate these.

Believe in yourself

This may be the biggest and most important one of all. Our mentality can determine our success or failure from the outset. Look at this year as a new opportunity to learn, grow and work on your goals rather than focusing on the negative or as the potential for failure.

Be critical about your goals and not about yourself, set realistic expectations, and allow yourself to be proud of small wins as well as larger ones. If you can take positivity from every situation, learn and adapt, you’ll be more likely to continue to hit the larger goals.

There will always be roadblocks, slip-ups, or set back but by staying committed, consistent and positive you’ll be able to adapt and continue. It’s also ok to need to amend the length of time or the goal itself, this isn’t failure it’s adaptation and a lot of the time we need to do this.

Remember it’s ok to need to reset sometimes but as long as you keep moving forward you’ll get there.

Whatever your goals are in 2022 use our helpful tips to work towards a happy, holistic lifestyle and see yourself succeed this coming year.

Don’t forget to fuel yourself in 2022 Pre, Intra and Post-workout – You can grab yourself all your workout must-haves here.  Make sure to let us know how you get on with your training program and tag us in your workouts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter – @phdnutrition.

We love seeing your workouts, recipes, and having you as part of our community. If you want to make sure to check out more of our amazing blogs here or grab yourself some of our other Smart Whey Protein to fuel your workouts even further.

Written by Amy Golby

Amy is our very own content manager and has been a sportswoman for over 18 years playing rugby and netball up to a national level, she has been a qualified personal trainer for 6 years and further her nutritional knowledge with a diploma in sports and exercise nutrition as well a psychology degree. She has been training in a gym and weightlifting for over 10 years and competed in her first body building competition this year. She continues to learn and improve her training in order to reach her goals. She believes in both the physical and mental advantages of sport and fitness as well as a balanced diet and lifestyle. In her spare time, Amy enjoys playing sport, socialising with friends, and fuelling her shopping addiction to gym wear. She can be found here – https://www.instagram.com/dreams_and_dumbbells/?hl=en