Goal Setting 101: Alena Luciani

Holy smokes! It is 2019! What a year it has been already for me. Clinic is open and thriving and I feel so grateful for each and every person who has helped bring my vision to life! One my greatest accountability partners in this whole process has been my friend Alena Luciani, funder of Training2XL. This girl is BRILLIANT when it comes to thinking big and making sh*t happen! So who else better then to guide us all through how we should reframe our 2019 goals in order to see them come to light! Alena runs goal setting workshops throughout the GTA (and maybe we can get her out to London one day!) and also offers online goals setting sessions through her business Training2XL. Seriously people if you want to make moves, Alena is your gal. Take it away Alena!

So you want to be a goal setter …

Setting goals is an incredible life skill to incorporate into your everyday routine. Contrary to prior belief, it’s not just for the month of January!

Although goal setting can be quite structured, it will (and should) look different for everyone. Not every person wants to write a step-by-step outline of how they want to reach a certain goal, sometimes it’s simply writing down a couple things you’d like to complete in the next three years. Whatever your style, making a mindful effort to write things down is a very powerful action.

I know the SMART acronym is quite popular (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely), but I wanted to talk about some other aspects of setting goals. Regardless of your style, here are a couple key tips to follow.

“How many times have you written ambitious goals down on paper only to close the book and never look at it again until the following year?”

Consistency, Frequency & Repetition

No matter how you go about recording your goals, consistency is key (as it is with anything). How many times have you written ambitious goals down on paper only to close the book and never look at it again until the following year? It’s all good, happens to a lot of us! But the more we remind ourselves of where we want to be and the things we want to do, the more prominent it is in our minds day in and day out. The frequency at which you remind yourself of these goals, the more likely you are to take steps towards reaching them. Remember that consistency with any action is how we create habits!

ACTIONABLE TASK:

Record your goals in several different locations (journal, agenda, memo on phone, post-it notes, etc.) Have them in places that you revisit frequently and know you will come across them every so often. Doesn’t have to be every day (unless you’re like me), even once a week or once a month is great!

“The more dialed in your goal, the easier it is to track your progression with it! ”

Specificity

The more detailed we are with our goals, the clearer they become for us. To write a goal saying you want to get stronger is great, but how can you be more specific with that? Could be as simple as saying “I want to increase my upper body strength” or “I want to increase the number of reps of push-ups I can complete in one set” – that just gave you a lot more clarity than “I want to get stronger”. The more dialed in your goal, the easier it is to track your progression with it!

ACTIONABLE TASK:

Ask yourself why. Why do you want to become stronger? Think hard about why you’re choosing to write that down and oftentimes that helps you get more specific. Another task is to put a date on it. Doesn’t have to be the exact date, but can you narrow it down to the year you’d like to complete this goal? Or even further and pick a month? Try it! It will help hold you accountable to that goal throughout the year!

Language

We know that the language we use with anything is very powerful so goal setting is no exception! Try being assertive when you write things down, for example, instead of saying “I want to buy a house this year” try “I WILL buy a house by December of 2019” … what statement was more powerful? Crazy what happens when we shift our language, both our speech and body language. Write goals as if you’ve accomplished them, sit (or stand) up straight, roll your shoulders down and back and be confident!

ACTIONABLE TASK:

Start each sentence with I WILL ____. Bonus points to say it out loud to a friend with the same language!

Mindset & Belief

Simply put, you need to believe in yourself when you set any type of goal. When you write something down, sit with it for a moment and really visualize yourself accomplishing it and believe it to your core that if you really want something you’ll make it happen.

ACTIONABLE TASK:

Create a list of 2-4 affirmations to remind yourself of your strongest qualities. Start the sentence with I AM _____. For example, I AM STRONG, I AM PASSIONATE, I AM RESILIENT. Write them down somewhere that you see each and every day. Keep reminding yourself of those positive attributes whenever you can!

As I mentioned earlier, everyone’s goal setting style is going to be different and that is okay! What’s important is that you commit to making mindful efforts everyday to get yourself closer to where you want to be. If list writing isn’t your thing? Don’t do it! But try to find different strategies that resonate with you and start. You never know if something is for you until you try it, so don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone every once in a while.

THANK YOU ALENA! These tips are awesome! And I hope to see some of these goals up on our goal wall in the clinic! If you would like to connect with Alena you can contact her via her website www.training2xl.com with follow her on socials @training2xl.