What to Do When You Don’t Meet Your Goals

All month long, we have been talking about setting SMART goals. I realize that I may have given you the impression that if you set SMART goals, you are 100% guaranteed to make them. While you have certainly insured your success at a higher percentage, there's no guarantee. Life happens, for sure, to all of us.

So today, I wanted to address a less fun question:  what happens if you don't meet your goals?

What do you do? One of the reasons why it’s important to make our SMART goal measurable is so that we can measure and say, "Hey, did I make my goal?" But what if the answer to the question is a resounding, nope?

As you may or may not know from my social media posts, I recently embarked on a 90 day clean eating challenge. I started January 1 (Happy New Year!) and my first goal was to lose five pounds and lower my body fat percentage by about two percent by the end of January.

As a nutrition coach, it’s sometimes difficult to admit when I fall short of goals, but in all honesty, that’s exactly what happened this time--I didn't hit it. By the end of January, the scale had not budged at all. Now, that was fine by me; I lost a lot of bloat and slimmed down by a couple inches. I lost about one percent body fat, which is great because that means my workouts are effective. But, technically, I didn't hit my goal. Bummer.

So, what do you do if you set a goal and don’t hit it? Do we throw up our hands and say, "That’s it! I'm all done." Or do we reset, start from where we are, and continue from here?

Take a couple of minutes to breathe. Don't worry about it. The reality is, that which is measured can be improved.

If you don’t meet your goal, your next step is to tweak that goal.

When I didn't hit my goal, the first question I asked myself was, how was my eating? Did I choose the right foods? In my case, food wasn’t the issue. I did a good job choosing healthful foods and eating clean. Was I 100% consistent in the midst of all that? No, but 75% for sure.

Next, I asked myself if there were any extenuating circumstances that could have affected my progress. When I reflected on the month, I realized I’d been traveling A LOT during that time. I also caught a stomach bug, which certainly didn’t help.  

That led me to examining my movement over the month of January.  In the course of all that traveling, I spent one week in California. While there, I sat through a lot of meetings: keyword, sat. And of course I didn’t exercise while I had a stomach bug. My body needed rest, and I did my best to give it that rest.

Given that I was traveling and sick, my intensity definitely could have been higher. However, as nice as it would have been to hit that goal, it was crucial to go a little easier on the workouts during January so I didn’t injure myself or cause myself to stay sick longer. I’ve only just gotten back to exercising at a higher intensity, and the last thing I want is a setback. So yes--my intensity could have been higher. But I made the right choice for me in the moment, and that’s something I can work on going forward.

So what did I do when I realized I hadn’t hit my goal?

I said, "Okay, here's where I am. I'm feeling good, I've lost inches, I've lost bloat. The scale didn't move. My body fat percentage moved a little bit. What can I do to make a difference? I'm going to continue eating clean, and I'm going to add a little bit of intensity to my movement."

The next morning, I added in 15 minutes on my elliptical. It's not a lot. It's not like I'm planning to add an extra hour each day--that wouldn’t be achievable. But 15 minutes a day? Totally achievable.  

It's simple--I've got an elliptical in my house.

It's measurable--I’ll do this five days a week for 15 minutes a day. If I don't get to do it in the morning for some reason, I can do it in the afternoon or the evening. It's just 15 minutes.

Is it realistic? I think it's realistic. I will be traveling again some this month, but I am staying at hotels with gyms so I don’t expect that to be an issue.

And finally, it's time-based. I'm specifically looking at this next month. I'm not expecting overnight results--that's just not the way life works. There is no easy button, there is no magic pill to take. It takes persistence and consistency.

What I'd love to hear from you is, how did you do with your goals this month?

If you didn't hit them, let's look at where we are today and set our goals for the next month. Don't look at where you wanted to be and set a goal from there. Set a goal from where you are today.

That's it for now--stay tuned for next week’s conversation about something we all love: treats! For today, what I hope for you is to live a life that you love, without being hungry, feeling deprived, or giving up your glass of wine with dinner.

If you’re enjoying this content, I hope you’ll check out my Thrive VIP group where I have a live Q&A every month, we have guest experts, and I’m available to answer questions in our group anytime.  The investment goes up in March, so take advantage of 2018 pricing now. You're also welcome to join my free group, Never Diet Again--this is a great community if you're looking for a little extra accountability, health tips, workout and recipe ideas, and nutrition advice. :)