We are reminded every New Year best practices to HABIT CHANGING and SETTING GOALS. 

When creating goals, categorize them into a family, health, relationships, finances and or career. Maybe you decide you want to make more income, create more balance, train more or less, fine-tune your nutrition, spend more time with your family. Or maybe you want to focus on more “me” time — whatever works for you. 

Sit down and answer the following questions for each of the categories listed above. 1) What do you enjoy and what would you change about your current lifestyle with the categories listed above. 2) What is your WHY? 3) Do you have mental barriers that might keep you from attaining your goal? Your answers will often dictate how you plan to transition into the New Year with New habits.

After you choose 3-5 main goals, break them down to smaller ones and set some objectives. Objectives help create a process for attaining your goal.

Only one person is in control of your life. And no one will make your goals happen for you. After all, would you really want someone to do it for you? Of course not. 

Create massive action in the direction of your goals – Action is what gives you power in your life. Action creates confidence and raises your self-esteem. If you do not create change, nothing will happen

I want to stress ACTIONABLE, creating an realistic action plan, a plan that fits around your family and work priorities, is going to be key to your success.

• Plan your day the night before, pack your workout bag, meals, and schedule your workouts on your daily calendar, making an appointment with yourself.
• Find a training partner that plans to train with you or at the same time you are so you can check up on each other for accountability. 
• WHY you are choosing to workout for health, fitness or sport. A strong WHY makes the HOW easier

Avoid these 10 Pitfalls

1. Not progressing incrementally and doing too much at once. We are more enthusiastic to achieve our goals or change our habits at the start of the new year and want quick results. The problem is that changing too many things at once often results in mental and physical stress if you struggle to adjust.
2. Not Being Specific The more specific you are with your goal or habit determines how realistic and timebound they are.. It’s not enough to say you want to be faster in your sport, determine how much faster and an action of thow long it will take based on current fitness and time available to train 
3. Not understanding your WHY and doing what others are doing When YOUR WHY is clear, the how is easy. Finding your real reason for the goal and/or habit change is everything.
4. Not having an accountability partner Tell A family member, friend or coach what your intentions are and allow them to check in on you and your actions you plan.
5. Not creating a realistic action plan Make sure your action plan fits your current life priorities, family and work commitments.
6. Not having a Process Driven Goal If you don’t enjoy the process, achieving the outcome goal creates more mental challenges. Make sure your workout, training session, nutrition plan or other action is entertaining, fun and a rewarding experience 
7. Not maintain a positive attitude Plan for setbacks an an action to overcoming them
8. Not continuing to learn Ask questions, keeping up with the latest developments
9. Not keeping a log or checklist and document when you finish an action or achieve an objective so you can look back at how far you have come and modify the action plan to maintain the attainable goal and timeframe
10. Not mixing up your routine. “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”

The bottom line is that there is no quick fix or magic time to live and make your dreams a reality. You owe it to yourself to practice healthy habits with your goals in mind. The more days you string together living as well as possible, the stronger you become, and the more likely your habits will lead to success with your goal.

The Tiny Habits That Change Everything, Art of manliness podcast