[rt_reading_time label=”Reading Time:” postfix=”minutes” postfix_singular=”minute”]
Those of you that are friends with me on Facebook will have seen that from September to November last year I did a number of personal challenges.
I actually do such things all the time, but this particular 90 block had me not drink alcohol for those three months.
I didn’t (and still don’t) think I had a ‘problem’.
But I had drank more than the recommended amount for most of my adult life.
So I thought 3 months off would provide a bit of a rest and help me see how I found it.
How Easy is it to Give up Alcohol?
After the first week or so it was surprisingly easy.
I work well with hard and fast goals.
When I say I’m going to do something, I do it.
It’s when it’s all a bit wooly that I’m not so good.
Since Christmas my alcohol consumption has slowly sneaked back up.
To probably where it was before.
Going back to “drinking less than I was before” isn’t concrete enough for me.
On a day to day basis, I don’t really know if I’m on track with that or not.
I like the idea of having a drink no more than three days a week.
But tracking it that way kinda felt like I was tracking my ‘failures’.
If you see what I mean?
A bit like counting the missed workouts rather than those that happened.
Or the crappy meals that made me feel rough rather than the wholesome, nutritious ones that made me feel good.
So I changed the goal last week.
Four days a week of not drinking.
Actually 200 days a year of not drinking.
I have an Excel sheet that I track all my other goals on.
Being an Excel geek it has conditional formatting to show each goal in green if I’m on track or in red if I’m not, based on today’s date.
I added a column in for ‘drink free days’.
I update my progress on all my goals on there every day anyway and adding another ‘tick’ gives me a feeling of achievement and progress.
I’m a fraction behind but catching up.
I should be ‘on track’ by the end of this week.
Setting Positive Personal Training Goals
I know some people won’t think this approach is right for them.
I know some will see it as similar to a former alcoholic counting their days since their last drink.
But it works for me.
And it may work for you.
Frame the goal in a way that works for you – maybe a ‘doing something’ rather than ‘not doing the opposite’. Positive personal training goals.
Set a goal over a time frame that allows for the variations life throws at us, that you can ‘catch up on’ if needs be and that you don’t think you’ve ‘failed’ at the second things don’t go perfectly.
Have a way of tracking your performance and progress that gives you a sense of achievement, of building on success, rather than that sense of failure.
You don’t have to do the same as me, but maybe that’s given you some food for thought on how to set your goals in a way that maximises the chance of you achieving them 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘500 days of summer’ Hall and Matt ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Nicholson
P.S. As always, if you haven’t already, check out our briefing meetings at RISE in Macclesfield if you like the sound of working with;
A) Real people who admit their own challenges
B) An approach based on helping you working with yourself rather than berating you for “not wanting it badly enough”
————————————————————————————————————————————–
RISE Macclesfield – myrise.co.uk
Serious transformations. Fun times!
Enter your details at myrise.co.uk for more information about what we do.
Or check out our monthly find-out-more meeting if you want to learn more about our free ’20lbs weight loss in 8 weeks’ and ‘Beach Body’ challenges –> myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting
