Ah, January.
The month of fresh starts, new notebooks (seriously, why do I always want a new notebook?), and a laundry list of New Year Goals and resolutions we’re absolutely, definitely going to stick to this time. Right?
So, the other day, my friend messaged me. She asked, “Be brutally honest. What do you think of my New Year’s resolutions?”
Now, for the record, health coaches don’t go around offering unsolicited opinions - or judging your food or lifestyle choices, so please stop panicking about the contents of your shopping basket when we bump into you at the supermarket 😉
But since she asked…
My friend had two big resolutions. First, she was going to lose another three stone.
Second, she was going to run. Every...single...day.
Or maybe it was one HUGE resolution, and the running was in aid of the weight loss. I wasn’t sure yet.
Either way, she’s certainly ambitious. Although as far as resolutions go, hers were fairly typical. In fact, you could even say she was fairly restrained in her intentions compared to the lengthy lists of resolutions many people make.
You know the ones...
Sound familiar?
It's safe to say that most of us have made resolutions like these. I'm definitely no exception.
So, yes my friend's intentions to lose 3 stone and run every day are comparatively less ambitious than these examples.
However, like most resolutions, there are few reasons why her new year goals were perfectly designed to not work.
So, let's break down the goal setting traps she nearly fell into, and the solutions she came up with to sidestep them.
And by taking a closer look at where my friend stumbled with her goal setting, we hope to help you make New Year’s Resolutions and goals you can stick to, by avoiding these common ways our resolutions set us up to fail...
GOAL SETTING TRAP 1:
Setting Arbitrary Goals
Why is the goal the goal? And is it too rigid?
When we further explored my friend's resolution to lose three stone, she admitted she wasn’t really sure why she’d chosen that number.
“It just sounds like a good amount,” she said.
When we dug deeper, she admitted that she might have actually achieved what she truly wanted from weight loss well before hitting her goal.
It wasn’t the act of losing weight itself that mattered most, but what it represented: better management of her health conditions, the energy to keep up with her kids, as well as making a change to her appearance.
However, she confessed that without taking a moment to reassess, she risked pursuing a goal that no longer held meaning for her: a goal where the cost of chasing it far outweighed any potential benefits.
All of this, simply because she had fixated on an arbitrary number she once plucked from the sky, viewing anything short of it as failure.
So instead, she decided to break her goal up into smaller chunks, starting with losing 2% of her body weight.
If you tend to set arbitrary or rigid goals, try this instead...
Rather than focusing on a specific number or outcome, think about the bigger picture. What do you actually want to achieve? And why is it important to you?
By understanding the motivation behind your goal, you can create more meaningful and flexible targets that align with the things you care about.
And by reviewing regularly you can assess how realistic your goals might be, weigh up the costs and the benefits and therefore adjust your course - or your goals themselves.
GOAL SETTING TRAP 2:
Focusing On The Destination, Rather Than The Route
"I want to lose three stone."
This kind of resolution is what we call an outcome goal.
By which I mean the goal is a final result — whether that’s a number on the scale, more money in your savings account, or completing a marathon.
But here’s the thing about outcome goals: they’re just end points. So if you don’t plot out the steps you need to take to get to them, they’re more like dreams than goals.
I mean, wouldn't it be amazing if money magically appeared in your savings account simply because you declared "I'm going to save £1000 and go on holiday!"?
But alas, it won't... unless you make a plan for how you will save that money.
Maybe you would create a budget and put a certain amount into another account on payday, before you can spend it.
Or perhaps you would identify any subscriptions you aren't using and put the money you've regained into your savings.
Both of those examples are what we call process goals: steps that could help you on the way towards your outcome goal of saving for a holiday.
In order to reach our outcome goal, we're gonna need to create process goals...
For example, let's say your outcome goal is to lose weight. One of your process goals might be...
Making your meals more filling by filling half your plate with vegetables and a quarter of your plate with protein, such as meat, fish, vegetarian meat substitutes or lower fat dairy.
This might be an effective way for you to reduce your overall calorie intake, if snacking on high-calorie foods out of hunger is one of the biggest sources of calories in your diet.
OR
Deciding on a realistic number of alcohol-free nights each week.
This might be an effective way for you to reduce your overall calorie intake, if snacking on high-calorie foods out of hunger is one of the biggest sources of calories in your diet.
OR
Keeping lower calorie, filling and convenient meals or meal ingredients in the house, such as ready-cooked meals, or something you can prepare quickly, such as pasta, tinned tuna, frozen vegetables and a jar of sauce**.
This might be an effective way to reduce your calories if you often find yourself ordering a high-calorie takeaway due to being short on time, motivation, or energy to cook.
**Yes, we know your social media feed has many "influencers" wandering around supermarkets talking into their smartphones, declaring that even minimally processed food (that's most food by the way) is going to kill you and is full of evil chemicals.
Let's just say unfollowing any accounts like that is a GREAT New Year’s resolution. Why this advice is wildly inaccurate, unhelpful and makes eating well less accessible is a topic for another day (though you can read a little more about why you don't need to worry about chemicals here).
If your goal is an outcome goal rather than a process goal, try this instead:
Break down your goal into smaller steps and actions that will lead you to your desired outcome. And try not to choose too many.
1-3 actions that will have the BIGGEST impact for the LEAST effort is advisable.
As for my friend, she’s decided to start by loosely monitoring her food intake for a week or two, in order to better understand where most of her calories come from. Once she has that information, she’ll have a better idea of what process goals will actually help her.
GOAL SETTING TRAP 3:
Setting Targets That Are Unrealistic
Moving onto my friend’s second resolution: Running.
Every. Single. Day.
She asked me to be blunt, so I didn't beat around the bush. This goal is totally unrealistic, for many reasons.
But here are the main ones...
Even professional runners don't run every day...
(you know, because injuries... not to mention that rest, and smart training plans, play important roles in improving performance - but that's one for another day).
...And my friend is not a professional athlete. She also lives in the cold, rainy northwest of England, and has to juggle her time around her family AND running not just one, but two businesses.
There is zero flexibility in this plan...
The plan is to run EVERY day. Not most days, not some days, not two or three times a week. There's no wiggle room here.
This tree would not sway in the wind, it would fall... and maybe lie there eating a share bag of peanut M&Ms because "I've blown it and I may as well start again on Monday.”
Ok that was a very specific metaphor, but you hear me, right?
The more rigid or black and white your plan is, the easier it is to perceive that you've “failed”.
If your goal is unrealistic or too rigid, try this instead:
Set goals you are 80-90% sure you can stick to, AND build flexibility into your plan.
For example, instead of running EVERY day, my friend reworked her running resolution into something she finds manageable and that also has some flexibility.
She felt 80-90% sure she could do between 5 and 25 minutes of running, kettlebell circuits, or even just dancing in her PJs, between 2-5 times a week.
Isn’t that so much more doable? She can also vary the intensity or duration of her exercise sessions depending on how busy her week is.
Flexibility also allows for life events or unexpected circumstances that may interrupt your schedule.
It's important to be kind to yourself and have back-up options when things don't go as planned.
GOAL SETTING TRAP 4:
Focusing on Process Goals That Don't Significantly Impact Your Outcome Goal (But Still Demand Time and Effort)
There's an abundance of confusing, conflicting or straight-up dodgy lifestyle change advice out there.
And that can often result in people believing that they need to do LOADS of stuff that actually has little-to-no impact on their goals.
Stuff like:
- Pouring all your focus into drinking more water (and as a consequence running to the loo a lot)
- Eating brown rice instead of white (because someone said so once)
- Taking an expensive supplement (or 25)
- Eating 30 different vegetables a week (not 29 or 31…because reasons)
The trouble is, this is the equivalent of having an hour to clean and tidy a bombsite of a room... and choosing to start by dusting the skirting boards.
As we covered in THIS BLOG, what you want to do is "pick up the big bits first". This means identifying what will have the biggest impact on your results and move you closer to your New Year goals, for the least effort.
I mention this, firstly, because it's such a common goal-setting mistake that it would be remiss of me not to...
…and secondly, because I wasn't initially sure if my friend was intending on doing all this running in aid of her weight loss goal - which would mean she was putting in a lot of effort, possibly for zero return (on her weight loss goal anyway).
You see, exercise is GREAT, for so many reasons.
Let me be clear, there are ALL of the reasons you should exercise. But weight loss is not one of them, because exercise is a surprisingly poor tool for weight loss on its own.
Why? Despite what your smartwatch might tell you, the actual number of calories burned during a workout isn't that high.
And your body, being a highly evolved and finely-tuned master of self-regulation, has a sneaky way of upping your appetite to make up for those calorie losses.
This is called bodyweight homeostasis, and it can cause you to eat back what you just burned without even realising it.
If your New Year’s Goal is only "dusting the skirting boards", try this instead:
Don't run yourself into exhaustion (literally). Identify what will have maximum impact on your outcome goal, for the minimum effort.
If you have a weight management goal, that looks like reducing your calorie intake in whatever is the most accessible way for you.
One way you could do this is to identify the greatest source of calories throughout your week, like my friend is doing.
GOAL SETTING TRAP 5:
Ineffective Progress Monitoring
Ok, I’ll admit this one isn't really a goal setting issue. But feeling like you aren’t getting anywhere works ZERO wonders for your motivation to keep pursuing your goals.
That's why I decided to check how my friend would be measuring her progress towards her weight loss goal.
And I was glad I asked, because her answer was "I'm going to weigh myself every Monday".
Honestly, her response makes total sense. I mean, isn’t that what every slimming club, app, or plan out there tells you to do—hop on the scales once a week?
If you’ve thought the same, you’re definitely not alone.
But here’s the thing about weighing yourself weekly: it doesn’t really account for the wild ride your body weight can take on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis.
Your body weight fluctuates for all sorts of reasons...
...like how much water you’re retaining, the amount of food still being digested, or even where you are in your menstrual cycle if that applies to you.
Just because the scale shows a sudden jump doesn’t mean you’ve actually gained fat, and similarly, a sudden drop isn’t always fat loss either. It could simply be your hydration level.
That’s why stepping on the scale first thing in the morning, every day (or simply three days in a row, for an easier option) can give you a much clearer picture.
You'll need to take an average of these weigh-ins, or track the trend over time. Body Matters clients can do this in your coaching app, or you can use an external app, such as Happy Scale.
This means you avoid being misled by these daily variances and, over time, you can actually see your progress for what it is.
Whatever goal you've set yourself this year, try this:
Here’s the thing about goals—if you don’t define what success looks like, how will you know when you’ve achieved it? And how will you know if you're on the right track?
Take the time to decide what progress toward your goal should look like. You can even break it into realistic milestones, measurable steps, or key indicators that you can track along the way.
Why is this so important? Because monitoring progress not only keeps you motivated, but also helps you course-correct if things go off-track.
And here’s a pro tip! Make sure your method of measuring progress is reliable and accurate (unlike the weekly weigh in).
If you’re unsure whether your current approach is reliable, or have questions about how to set this up, just drop us an email. We'd love to help.
WRAPPING UP...
Setting goals can feel like a no-brainer, but it’s surprisingly easy to fall into traps that sabotage your progress.
If, like my friend, you've inadvertently fallen into one of the goal setting traps we've covered today, the tips in this blog might be just what you need to get on the right path.
That being said, lifestyle change is never a one-size-fits-all thing. And we can all benefit from a helping hand from time to time, so our email inbox is always open.
Whether you’re looking for a bit of advice, curious about working 1:1 with one of our coaches, or just want to share your plans and get some feedback, we’re here for you. Our coaches have guided hundreds of clients—from Carlisle to Canada—helping them carve out their own path to a happier, healthier, and longer life.
No question is too small, no goal too big. Every step of your journey matters, and we’d be honoured to help you take the next one.
Go ahead, reach out—it’s what we’re here for!
There's More Where This Came From...
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