In yesterday’s Instagram post, we asked if your actions always align with your goals. The reality for me is that they don’t… Well, at least not 100% of the time.

Almost every source of information you can access will tell you the importance of nutrition and consistency to help you achieve your goals. Proper nutrition is what fuels your body, water is important, rinse, repeat…we get it. But what do you do when you just don’t feel like it? How do you get back on track to working towards your goals, and sideline those urges to self-sabotage? And most importantly, why do you fall off track to begin with?

Well, that could be a variety of things, but I’m going to assume (I know that makes me an ass) that I am similar to many others and will share with you why I go rogue, and how I get my actions back in line with my goals.

Why do we stop doing the things we need to do to achieve our goals? This is a good question. It’s important to recognize and admit to yourself so you can identify it in the future, and course correct before you get so far off track that you end up in some dark hole searching for support groups to help you with your murder mystery addiction, and the only “suggested for you” videos are of dogs learning how to communicate with their people by pushing buttons that talk.

Here as some things I’ve found that help:

Realistic goals: Is what you want to achieve realistic in the timeframe you’ve identified? If yes, awesome, keep going. If not, it is important to level set, and adjust as necessary. Setting a goal that is unrealistic sets you up for failure, which is incredibly de-motivating and can cause you to give up before you even get going!

Be prepared: What do you need to do to help ensure you are set up for success. Depending on your goals this could mean:

1. Meal prepping

2. Researching technique

3. Setting smaller goals that lead up to your larger goal : i.e.: You want to do unassisted pull-ups. Start with a smaller goal of 10-12 negative pull ups assisted, then unassisted negatives, then assisted pull-ups, and finally…an unassisted pull-up!

And…the one that matters the most, but is the most frequent robber of success:

Confidence: Believe in yourself. Don’t let your mind try and tell you that you can’t do it! Shut that sh*t down! This is a tough one. Those nasty little thoughts that creep in and try and settle in your sub-conscious.

Not everything is going to go smoothly in life as you continue to work towards your goals, but that isn’t a reason to abandon them completely and succumb to the self-sabotage that often accompanies these thoughts of self-doubt.

“Why bother, you’ve already messed up with your meals today, you may as well just eat the rest of that (insert favourite snack food here) and start again tomorrow.” Sound familiar?

It’s ok to miss a meal, or fall short on water intake one day…that doesn’t mean you need to throw your hands up and press the restart button. You aren’t back at the beginning. You are still in it, working towards where you want to be. The path to success isn’t straight. In fact, if I had to compare the journey to achieving a goal, I think it would resemble the drawing a young child makes when first learning how to hold a crayon. It’s messy, all over the place and hard to follow. That’s why its so amazing. It is unique, personalized and cannot be recreated by anyone else. It’s yours to own.

So own it. Don’t give up on it simply because it gets hard.

Here is my suggestion:

Stop. Remember why you started. Ask yourself “Is what I am doing in line with my goal?” if the answer is no, you need to make a decision.

Are you going to change your goal? Or are you going to change your actions?

It’s that simple.

-g