What’s one way you can keep score of your habits. You know, the ones you’ve determined to be important to your goals and their achievement in 2015. Before you answer, let’s do a quick exercise to put it into perspective.

Picture this… you’ve set a goal and your commitment level is 10. You’re very excited and truly believe that this time, unlike all the other failed attempts in the past, this time you will get rid of the weight you’ve committed to lose. You feel so powerful and so unstoppable at this point.

But think about it. Isn’t this how you felt every other time too? Each time you discovered a “new diet” or “new method” for losing weight, you actually felt the same positive emotions.

So what’s different this time? Could it be that this time you put your goal on paper, and reinforced it with “WHY-power”?

If so, I commend you! But you’re not done. If you haven’t determined your “WHY”, you may be in for another failed attempt. So go back and figure out WHY you want to accomplish this goal, this time, and what it will cost you if you don’t. You can click here to jump back to last week’s post on the importance of your “WHY”.

After you’ve figured out your “WHY”, I’m going to recommend another step to help you stay successful. What is it? It’s called “tracking”. In fact, you probably do some form of tracking in your life. But you’re just not conscious of it, or maybe you call it something else.

So what is “tracking”? In a nutshell, it’s a great way to find out where you currently stand. Tracking brings your choices, decisions, habits, and behaviors to your conscious awareness by allowing you to “keep track” of the things you want to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing.

Here’s how: Let’s say you want to lose 30 pounds. Then keep a small notebook with you and write down (track) everything you put in your mouth. This includes every meal, beverage, snack, candy, cocktail… Everything!

Why everything? You want to lose 30 pounds, right? Well, until you know what you’ve been eating and all that’s contributing to your weight issue or current status quo, you’re gonna have a tough time shedding that extra weight. Tracking will help you see what you’ve been eating so you can identify ways to improve.

How long should you track? You need to give yourself a little time so stay with me on this. The first week is to help you learn about your eating habits. Let’s assume that if you’re 30 pounds overweight that you’ve picked up some bad habits along the way. And until you bring some conscious attention to your nutrition, accomplishing your goal is not going to be easy. After all, we’re not talking about a diet here. You are creating new healthy habits and a new long-term lifestyle. This requires time, focus and effort; and some discipline.

You may find through tracking that you’re consuming a few sugary beverages every day. That’s easy to eliminate. Or maybe you reach for a low nutrient, high calorie processed snack every afternoon or evening. How about extra or over-sized portions? That will be uncovered. And don’t forget about alcohol. Talk about empty and unaccounted for calories. They all add up, and it’s virtually impossible to know until you get a grip by bringing awareness with tracking.

Now that you have 7 days of data, you can begin to evaluate your choices. Some will be obvious that you’ll want to stop immediately. Others can be replaced with healthier alternatives. And you may also want to consult with a Registered Dietitian to help you develop meal plans that align with your new healthy lifestyle.

Tracking will bring clarity. Now you can continue to track to reinforce (and keep track of) the good habits you want to maintain. You will find tracking to become a motivational ally. How? It will motivate you to do the things you’ve committed to but may not feel like doing in the moment. Think about how you feel when you complete a task and check it off your list. It feels great and gives you a sense of accomplishment.

On the other hand, tracking can also help you break an undesirable habit by bringing awareness to it. And knowing you need to write it down may sometimes be enough to stop you. By the way, this feedback is invaluable and it’s a great way to chart your progress. I hope you can see that there are countless reasons to track, and numerous benefits for doing so.

Now you have some powerful info that you can incorporate into your new nutrition and fitness plans. And you’ve positioned yourself on the side of success as you set to achieve your 30 pound weight-loss goal. Tracking has given you a conscious and concrete understanding of things that have compounded over time and contributed to your weight gain.

Now it’s up to you to. How cool is that?

Don’t judge, just track it. Then learn from your results, improve ’em, and keep tracking. Ignite The Compound Effect to start working for YOU!

 

P.S. You can learn more about tracking, the benefits of the “Compound Effect”, and get personal mentoring from Darren Hardy (and much more), by subscribing to Darren Daily.

You’ve set a goal for the new year – congratulations!

You followed the S.M.A.R.T. template and you’re eager to get started – excellent!

You put your goal in writing – fantastic!

Now, there is one more very important step you need to take. An essential step that is often overlooked, but will make the difference between your success or failure to achieve your goal.

It’s your “WHY”! Your what? No, your “WHY”.

So why is “your WHY” so important?

Here’s what typically happens. Early on, in the first few weeks or months of establishing your new goal, you are very motivated. Your commitment level is off the charts. And you begin to make progress and see some positive results.

Then you get busy with your work and your family. Life happens… A few weeks or months go by. Without even realizing it, you’ve hit a plateau; or worse, a wall. You get a little discouraged but persevere. Results begin to slip. Then you encounter another challenge. Desire may even begin to wane.

What’s going on? Actually, these obstacles & setbacks are normal and should be expected. But they can can be demotivating and downright discouraging. Don’t give in. Resist the temptation to throw in the towel and give up.

Remember how excited you were a few months prior, when you set this goal in motion? Now your progress isn’t so steady and your results are fleeting. Your attitude may need an adjustment and your ego may even be a little bruised. And the dreaded self doubt may be speaking to you.

Ever had one of these talks with yourself?

• “What were you thinking? You can’t do this!”
• “What, are you crazy?”
• “Did you really think you could accomplish this?”
• “You should’ve just kept on doing what you were doing.”
• “You were born to be over-weight, just accept it.”
• “You’ve always had big thighs.”
• “Go ahead and have that extra piece of cake, you deserve it.”

Sound familiar? Well don’t worry, you’re not alone. This happens to everyone. The pursuit of something new, or the achievement of a goal isn’t easy. But it’s definitely worth the struggle and pain you sometimes have to endure.

Jim Rohn said it best when he said “There are two types of pain you will go through in life, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons”.

So how do you explain what’s going on? You’ve reached “the messy middle” as Michael Hyatt often refers to it. This is why “your WHY” is so important. You need something to help you through these tough, inevitable times.

Your “WHY” becomes your beacon of hope. It inspires you during your journey towards accomplishing your goal(s). And if your “WHY” is strong enough; or even better, if you have a compelling list of “WHY’s”, then you’ve positioned yourself to successfully navigate through the challenging times that await you.

But that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be easy. Think about the last goal you set but failed to achieve. Did you have a strong reason to see it through to completion? One that would help you break through walls (aka, obstacles & setbacks)? My guess is no, but that’s okay.

This is a great opportunity to learn from your failure and learn about yourself. Think about it – what could you have done differently? What would’ve helped you overcome the many challenges you faced? What prevented you from succeeding? What got in the way?

If you figure this out, you can tackle just about anything. As long as you know “WHY”.

There’s a great example about the power of your “WHY” in Darren Hardy’s best selling book, The Compound Effect. In it, Darren gives an example of putting a 10-inch wide, 30-foot plank on the ground, and walking across it for $20. Easy, right? Now put that same plank between two, 100-story buildings. Would you do it for the same $20? Nope. But what if your child was on the other side and that building was on fire? You wouldn’t even think about it. You’d just do it. And the money wouldn’t be a factor.

That is the power of your “WHY”. Get it? Find something compelling enough. Something to motivate you when you don’t feel like doing what you need to do, or committed to doing when you originally set the goal. Your passion has to come from a deeper place.

If you have a strong enough “WHY” you can accomplish just about anything. As long as you’re willing to pay the price. What’s the price? Well first off, you can’t pay for it with cash or credit. It all depends on your goal and usually involves things like effort, commitment, discipline, focus, better choices, new skills, taking action, getting outside of your comfort zone, overcoming adversity, solving problems, and learning from mistakes & failure. And sometimes it’s disguised as hard work.

It’s time for some alone time with pen and paper. Only you can figure out your “WHY”. So set aside at least 20 to 30 minutes without your phone, computer, TV… or any other distractions. You need time to think. If you haven’t done this in a while, it may be uncomfortable at first. That’s okay. Stick with it and develop the discipline. You’ll need it for your next goal.

In the next post we’ll talk about a powerful technique called “tracking”. For now, go offline and figure out why you want to accomplish your new goal. You’ll discover a powerful force within yourself when you unplug and go analog (pen & paper). And be sure to keep the discussion going by leaving a comment when you get back online.

Here’s to you and your “WHY” in the New Year!!!