eNEWSLETTER
January 2009
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"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."
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Welcome to a New Year of Clayfield Counselling Services eNewsletter, we hope you all enjoyed the festive season. As of January 1 2009 our prices have risen, for anyone interested in enquiring about our current prices feel free to contact our office on (07) 3862 6622.
How to Set Achievable Goals
This month we thought we would address the issue of New Year’s Resolutions; we all at some time in our life make these statements. For many it is the year they want to shed those excess kilos that accrued over the previous year, to other it may be to quit smoking or to learn how to let go of the past.
The problem we all face is that after the first few months we can sometimes lose motivation and fall back into habits of old. This is because you may not have set realistic goals. For instance in relation to weight you may be a size 18 if your female or a 4XL if your male and you say that this year I’m going to be a size 12 or a Large instead. When the motivation wanes and the goal looks like its further and further away from achieving we all fall into the trap of it may just be too hard, maybe I’m not cut out for it, or consider their inability to reach their goal weight as a sense of failure. The truth is that goal setting and achieving those goals is like a staircase unless each goal is manageable the end can sometimes seem impossible.
You need to set “SMART goals”, these goals are a five step process and will be outlined below:
Be Specific
You need to be able to describe exactly what you want to achieve, to lose weight one might say I want to lose 20kgs or consider how many times a week you want to exercise for instance I want to exercise three times a week for one hour incorporating cardio and weight training into my regime. If you want to quit smoking say I want to reduce my cigarette consumption by 5 cigarettes each fortnight till I am no longer smoking.
Measurable
You need to know when you have achieved it and be able to monitor your progress as you go along, for instance buy a calendar and call it your weight loss calendar and at the beginning of each week note how much weight you’ve lost. If you want to quit smoking instead of approaching it from a packet a day to none, gradually reduce your intake if you smoke 20 smokes a day break it down to 15 cigarettes a day for a fortnight, then 1o for the next weeks. Then gradually have days that you don’t smoke.
Attributable:
You own the goal, it is something you want to achieve and will so adopt the attitude that “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”. By starting a diary or calendar, it shows that you are doing what you set out to do and acts as a form of motivation. Each kilogram or cigarette that you lose or cigarette that you don’t have is your perseverance, own your goals. Always remember the reason you set the goal and remind yourself daily why you have set that goal.
Realistic
Make sure the goals that you are setting are realistic, there’s nothing more difficult to achieve than “pipe dreams”. If you’re a size 20 or 4 XL don’t expect that a size 10 or Medium is a healthy weight loss. By setting such unrealistic challenges only serves to demotivate, if necessary break your goal into realistic chunks and discuss your weight loss plans and cutting back on cigarettes with a health profession.
Time Limit
The most important of all of these steps is setting a time limit to achieve your goals. For instance you may choose an anniversary or event as your deadline to lose weight, but be realistic if its only a couple of months away recognise that it will be difficult to achieve and may demotivate you and you develop a case of “why bother?” syndrome, or “Nothing ever works out, may as well give up”
WHAT GOALS?
Now that you know how to set your goals it is important to consider certain aspects of your life which you feel needs improvement, you need direction before you can decide what goals you want to set.
The goals you set need to enhance and contribute to your overall quality of life. Consider the following aspects of your life and decide whether you are satisfied with it or may wish to improve aspects of.
- Health
- Self image
- Finances
- Work
- Relaxation
- Self growth
- Intimacy
- Family
- Community
- Social
Instead of being unrealistic consider only three of the most important areas of your life that you would like to achieve and follow the 5 steps as shown above.
Useful tips
- Keep a diary or a calendar that you can always refer to
- Surround yourself with people who will motivate you to change your life
- Set SMART goals
Until next time then...
“The old saying “Success breeds Success” is quite true, small successes one step after the other can add up to very major goals being achieved at the end of the day.”