It’s that time of year where most people I have come across are frantically deciding on what goals to set and inevitably a few weeks later, say by February 2025 these goas will be long forgotten. I too have fallen under this trap having spent £100s on courses and yet still failing to achieve any meaningful goals for me it’s the six pack as I’m getting older the mid-life spread just seems to be getting bigger and wider or could it be that my shirts are getting tighter and tighter… I must check what washing cycle in putting them in.

The first and most obvious step is to write your goals down, now I’m an expert at writing lists and lists I have so many lists of goals that I wanted to complete and have never quite got to them!  So Write down your goals.

Secondly, look at them Daily if that’s not possible then at least weekly, I recall Jim Rohn saying to read your goals twice daily once in the morning an d once in the evening

Thirdly you need to Monitor your progress, I recall scoffing at some gym goers who would carry a note pad with them writing down the sets, reps and weights they had completed, needless to say a few months later these gentlemen had progressed much more and had six packs to show off, me I still scoffed at them, not really knowing why! Hiding my paunch under XXL hoodies at least the rest of me was also growing, I guess…

Fourthly one should try incorporating a mental contrasting technique, a psychologist Gabrielle Ottingam had discovered this in her research especially with very visual clients who could visualise the goal but never quite get around to completing it, I understand this phenomenon more than some as I could always imagine, visualise having a six pack so I guess if your mind can see it it’s already been completed and thus you lose the motivation to actually carry out the goal!