Do you ever get stuck in all-or-nothing thinking?
If you don’t have at least 30 minutes to devote to a workout, do you just skip it?
If you pig out at lunch, do you go “off the wagon” for the rest of the day (or week)?
Sometimes when we don’t do something exactly as we think we should, we just give up. If we make one little mistake, we feel we failed and it’s not worth it to continue. Or we push it off to tomorrow or next Monday or next month or even never.
I’d like to talk about a concept often referred to as tiny habits or micro-goals. Personally, this is my favorite way to tackle my own goals. It’s a pretty simple concept and it is just as it sounds- Goals broken down into small, bite-sized habits to make them more manageable. This is a great strategy for those who get overwhelmed when trying to make life changes.
Let’s say you’re trying to lose weight and your big goal is to lose a total of 25 pounds. We would want to break that down into smaller, more manageable micro-goals. So, you could set a goal of weight loss for one month or you could even just set a weekly weight loss goal. The object here is to achieve small victories. This helps to build positive momentum and keep you motivated.
Here are some examples of micro-goals:
- Lose 1 pound this week.
- Walk for 10 minutes 3 days this week.
- Have a vegetable with at least 1 meal each day this week.
- Have 8 cups of water at least 3 days this week.
Make sure you choose a goal that is realistic based on your starting point. You want to give yourself the best chance to succeed! Then, after the week (or whichever time period you choose) is up, see how you did and craft your micro-goals for the next time period.
If you struggled to reach your goals, cut them back to something smaller until you’re able to achieve them regularly. Then it’s time to slowly build them up. Slow and steady…
Sending lots of love and peace!
