Many of us take the opportunity of a new year to set goals and many of us do not! For the people who choose not to set goals the main reason behind many that I spoke to was that they don’t want to fail and that setting a goal that they are not going to reach sets them up for failure. That got me thinking. Were the goals they were setting unattainable or unrealistic? The common goal I heard from most was to lose weight. In fact that is 80% of the populations New Year’s resolution. I was able to get my hands around this concept of not setting a goal in fear of failing because of my own personal experience with the exact same goal! I set out in September 2010 to lose weight. I was tired of being tired, overweight and not feeling like the best I could be. This was not the first time that I had set out to achieve this goal and that is why I understand where the people are coming from that do not want to set themselves up for “failure”. But what if your goal wasn’t so broad and you celebrated all of the successes that aligned with your goal that you achieved along the way? For me, I set a goal and a date. I was going to compete in the Bikini competition of IFBB on November 13, 2010.As, part of my goal I wanted to lose 35 lbs and be healthy. Now, there was disappointment along the way but only when I let myself think that way. I consistently lost 2 lbs per week. Some weeks were better than others but I celebrated my sweat and hard work and how every single pound I lost was a huge success! I let myself be happy and that gave me the momentum to stay true to myself and my goal. I didn’t look at the BIG goal of 35 lbs. I looked at each day and made hundreds of choices that aligned with my big goal. I also, looked at each week when it came to the weight and my goal of losing 2 lbs. per week. This was so much more realistic to me than 35 lbs. Lastly, I did not allow myself to have any excuses. When they entered my head I would respond with, “so”? So what if I am tired? So what if it is cold outside? SO WHAT? What do I want more? And off to the gym I would go! It took me a long time to feel deserving of patting myself on my back for a job well done but again, I relearned how to celebrate my small successes and that gave me the momentum and energy to continue.

I challenge those of you that have chosen not to set a goal for the New Year to set one. Do not give in to the failure around not reaching the BIG goal but instead choose to celebrate the small successes everyday while on the journey of reaching your big goal!
For those of you that have chosen to set a New Year’s goal. Congratulations! Never look back! One day at a time! Every decision is a choice and you are in control of making that choice. Will your choice align with your goal or go against it? Soon, you will see that each choice is the lifeline to your goal and to your success. Pretty soon your lifestyle will change and they won’t seem like choices any more but just really good habits!

I forgot how great it felt to have a goal and how goal oriented I really am. Don’t be afraid of a goal or to truly want something. Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself! I hit my goal out of the park because I challenged myself and got out of my comfort zone! Not only did I compete in the Bikini contest but I have also lost over 35 lbs. and I am still going and planning on competing again in April! So, go ahead and set your goal! I promise you may not like what you see at first but through the growth process you will love who you become!