How many of you have been motivated to achieve a goal you’ve set for yourself and then all of a sudden, as if it no longer exists, you forget about it and fall into the same old patterns that made you create the goal in the first place? Well, if you answered yes, you are not alone. But why do we do that? We really want to “lose weight”, we really want to “eat healthy” but what does this mean to you? Why do you want to lose weight and eat healthy? Here is a little trick that I learnt from the great Tony Robbins: Find out what you want and ask yourself why you want that thing 7 times, each ‘why’ drilling down deeper and deeper into the reason why you want to achieve your goal.

It might look a little something like this:

I want to eat healthy.
Why? So that I can lose weight.
Why? So that I can feel confident to go to the gym and have the energy to workout.
Why? So that I can get stronger and healthier to be more confident in who I am.

Why? Because I when I am stronger and more confident, I can take control of my life.
Why? Because when I am in control of my life I can get better results and achieve more.

Why? I want to achieve more for my family, my friends and most importantly my kids.

Why? I want to make my kids happy and give them the role model they deserve, so that they can be the best version of themselves.

Do you see how as you drill down into the why’s it becomes less about ‘me’ and more about ‘we’? This is what we like to call ‘your true purpose’. It is impossible to live from a state of low energy when you think about others. However, it still requires discipline and it won’t happen without conscious effort, so write down your ‘why’ and keep it close to you at all times.

How do we make sure you reach your ‘why’? Set SMART goals:

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Repeatable / Realistic

T – Timely

Specific – Make your goal as meaningful and detailed as possible. Don’t just say “I want to lose weight” Say, “I want to lose 7kg of fat mass so that I can fit into 2 sizes smaller clothing”.

Measurable – Make your goal quantifiable, don’t just weigh yourself, get a DEXA scan that shows how much specific fat mass you have lost.

Achievable and realistic – Make sure that it is realistic and achievable. Don’t set yourself a goal to “lose 7kg over Christmas” when you know there will be festivities ahead. Instead, set a realistic goal and say “I am going to enjoy my time with family but I am going to spend 15 more minutes training per day”. Make yourself accountable, but be realistic.

Timely – Make sure you put a time target on your goal. This may look like this “I want to lose 7kg of fat mass over 4 months, between June and October”.

There you have it, you’ve found your true ‘why’ and you’ve created a path to get there.

Enjoy the success!

Ryan Barron
Senior physiotherapist