The 'no pressure' way to setting life goals for health and happiness
We all strive to be happy and healthy. To do this, we have to continually work at lifting our spirits and keeping them high.
There are a number of easy, non-life changing, ways to actually make ourselves happier. Keeping tabs on the things you feel lucky to have in your life is a great way to boost your mood, you could even go as far as keeping a gratitude diary.
Getting outside and spending time with your family is also well-known to jump start those endorphins during the long winter months.
In this article, we want to focus on how you can wake up every day and say ‘today is going to be a good day’. Adopting a positive mindset and setting a few realistic personal goals for this year and beyond, can make a huge difference.
Here are some key techniques to help you craft well-designed and achievable goals:
Make your goals clear and actionable
You should be able to easily break down every goal into sub-goals or actions so you can take stepping stones that help you to achieve your goals.
Challenge yourself but stay realistic
Excessively challenging aspirations can lead to stress and overwhelm, especially if they are linked to financial success. Stay focused, think positively and make sure each goal can be achieved within the time period you have set yourself.
Write them down
Each goal needs to be written down and reviewed regularly. Either on your phone, in your diary, next to your bed or even stuck on the fridge. The more you refer back to your goals, the more likely it is you will remain on the path of achievement.
Set intrinsic goals as well as extrinsic ones
It is said that intrinsic motivation (internal rewards) is the key to happiness. Reading a book because you enjoy the storytelling; exercising because you want to relieve stress is as important as extrinsic motivation (external rewards) where you maybe clean your house because you have visitors coming or you exercising to lose weight. Both are equally important motivational factors that need to be addressed to help you set positive, achievable, no-pressure personal goals.
Plan for obstacles
Part of being realistic means planning for contingencies and identifying what might stop you from achieving your goal. The best way to stay on track is to evaluate your progress regularly. Remember, it is not about success or failure as life comes with many obstacles, it is about building resilience and learning to overcome those obstacles and move forward.
Use positive self-talk
If you have already been a part of The Six Pack Revolution, then you will know we are all about positive self-talk. ‘I can’ is our favourite phrase and we already know that self-talk is incredibly powerful as we have watched the positive change happen to thousands of participants through our programme. Self-talk plays a key role in overcoming obstacles and staying motivated and on the right path to achieve your set-goals.
Goal 1 - Let’s get motivated for health
Forget the usual New Year resolutions, out with the old and all that jazz. You can restart your health goals at any time of the year!
First things first, put away your scales. What you weigh doesn’t necessarily relate to how healthy you are. Remember the saying, ‘you are what you eat’ and focus on that. Here is how we would break goal 1 down:
Swap processed for fresh. Set a realistic goal to how many days a week you can cook using only fresh ingredients. Fresh foods are less processed, have less added sugars and salts and more nutrients. So by making some simple swaps, can have a big affect on your health. Writing down a food plan ensure you are more likely to stick to it.
Drink more water. It’s not rocket science but some people still struggle to keep their fluid intake up. If you are struggling, get into the habit of always keeping a water bottle with you. You could use a hydration water app or, if you don’t like drinking plain water, liven it up with some fruit, fresh ginger or cucumber and mint. By increasing your water intake, will naturally give you more energy and vitality.
Walk more. Get moving if you want your mood to shift. The connection between exercise and your emotions shows that being active can help you be happier and healthier. We are not talking about training for a marathon, just 10 – 15 minutes of exercise a day has been shown to improve your mood!
Prep, prep, prep. We cannot stress enough how important being prepared is. It will help you mentally prepare to achieve your goal for the day. If you need to meal prep in bulk, ensure you make a list of everything you need in advance and purchase it so you will be ready to prep. Check out our previous article on meal preparation and planning here.
Goal 2 – Write down how you feel
Are you a comfort eater? How many of you walk through the door and head straight for the fridge? We all know this habit-forming routine is bad for our health but did you know, it is also really bad for our overall happiness. Our advice – spend 10 to 15 minutes a day recording your feelings on paper! Research shows that clarifying your thoughts onto paper helps you solve your problems more efficiently leading to you overcoming your emotional stress! A great tip from us, in stressful situations, always do something that has a positive effect on your body and wellbeing rather than a negative one.
Who knew that journaling is an effective stress relief exercise and people who write in a diary or notebook reap both physical and emotional benefits, potentially increasing their longevity!
Goal 3 – Talk yourself happy
We touched on this earlier in our overview of the key techniques but this time we want to show you how you can really set this as a life-goal.
Always being positive isn’t the same as talking yourself happy. There is a method here and we want you to really listen up! There will be obstacles to happiness in every minute of every day. From the bad driver or the delayed train to the best friend or husband that has said something that has hurt your feelings.
The truth is, these things may happen to you no matter where you are in your life cycle – the trick to staying happy is how you deal with these situations.
To achieve this goal long term you need to break it down as follows:
Create a personal mantra – embrace the darker aspects of a given situation and use your own resilience to handle the tough by reflecting on sunnier moments in your life. Some lucky people are born with rose-tinted glasses it is not genetic and you can change, it is all in the mind and your positive thinking! We want you to try this simple process to stay positive. Find a comfortable phrase that is positive. For example, ‘today will be a good day!’ or ‘I am grateful for everything that comes my way’, if you continually repeat it, it can bring a smidge of relief and hopefully remind you things always do improve. There is always something positive that can be found in every situation, even if initially you cannot see it.
Banish negative thoughts – It can be a constant loop of worry and concern if you are a natural pessimist. Those dark scenarios can be harsh and the mind can play nasty tricks on you. However, by really banishing those disempowering thoughts and focussing on those positive ones, you are taking a massive step closer to talking yourself happy.
Change your language – Words make a big different in how your feel and the way others perceive you. We transfer our feelings verbally to the world around us so if someone asks how you feel and you reply with ‘I’m so stressed’ you’ve created an instant negative barrier making both parties feel particularly on edge. Switch it up by using positive language even if you can only find one tiny positive thing in your day like “I made a great sandwich for lunch, it was delicious, how is your day going?” – using a positive statement first will instantly take your mind to that happy place.
Goal 4 – Giving back
Random acts of kindness is very rewarding and a great way to give back to others.
Whether it is donating old clothes, books or furniture or giving your car park ticket to somebody, by doing something kind for a complete stranger, you could have turned their day around into a positive and grateful one too. Sprinkle a little bit of kindness and positivity into the world so we can all make it a better place to live.
A Final Thought from our Founder, Scott Harrison
You should think of health and happiness as a by-product of living an engaged and successful life.
By setting goals to achieve optimum health and happiness, you are expelling negative thoughts into the background, while you shift your focus on to something more positive.
Scott is the founder of The Six Pack Revolution and is the creator of our original Signature Programme designed specifically to get extreme lean results in the short term of just 75 days.
Scott built the programme to meet the needs of his own journey to fitness, taking the courage to craft a long term path to feeling healthier and happier.
Here are just a few of Scott’s personal motivational quotes to get you inspired today!
By setting yourself some ‘no pressure’ life goals you are well on your way to succeeding on your own personal health and well-being journey.
Need some help getting started? Why not consider our Six Pack Revolution programme? It will bring you together with like-minded people, our wonderful coaches who have all participated in the programme. Plus a fantastic support network of people all working hard to keep you on track for a set period of time!
To join in the next wave of the Six Pack Revolution register today!
The Six Pack Revolution is a 75 day transformation programme, where we coach you on fitness, mind-set and nutrition.
Founded by Scott Harrison, the programme includes everything you need to get you into the best shape of your life. You’ll learn how to cook delicious recipes, and complete daily and weekly fitness challenges within a group of like-minded people, all looking to achieve the same outcome as YOU!
All our Six Pack Revolution coaches have been through the programme. They started where you are today and are proof that the programme works, and proof that anyone can do it too!
One of the best things about The Six Pack Revolution is the support network. You’ll get to know your new fitness family through a private Facebook Group. This is ‘The Hub’ where others in the group share their experiences, results and tips on overcoming obstacles.
We believe in you, and can’t wait to welcome you to the revolution!