How to actually achieve your goals this year

Setting goals has transformed my success over the years.

But this year I’ve decided to change my approach.

In the past, I’ve chased results. 

I set lofty targets, stick my head down and work my guts out to achieve them.

A few fail. Others I completely forget about, and the rest I manage to complete.

Then I started looking at the ones that failed and noticed two common reasons. 

1. I lacked the skills to achieve them.
2. I didn’t create good habits that produced the results to get me there.

And that second point is what I want to talk to you about today.

I stumbled across a line from James Clear recently that said

“Build better habits. Don’t chase better results."

And it might just be the timing of that message but it summed up my thoughts for 2024 into one beautiful line.  

It’s exactly how I’m setting goals for this year. 

Don’t get me wrong. I still have targets. 

But I’m not putting as much emphasis on them. 

They’re purely there to help me decide on what habits I must build in order to achieve a result. 

As simple as it sounds, I didn’t do this well in the past.

Instead, I set a big goal and then just got busy doing heaps of business-as-usual shit hoping that it would propel me towards the lofty outcome.

Pretty dumb really…

To explain it a little better, let me share a goal of mine and how I’m building habits to help me achieve it.

In May, I’m going to complete an Ultra Marathon.

50km of single track winding up and down the escarpment in the Blue Mountains of Australia. I’m told it’s beautiful! 

And brutal…

Until a few years ago I was the biggest anti-runner I knew. 

When I drove past people running I would think to myself (sometimes out loud) “What an idiot! Who the hell would run when you had bikes and cars. Honestly!”

Then I discovered trail running when my son was born because I needed to find shorter workouts instead of a 3 hour mountain bike ride.

So I started running the local mountain biking trails near my house. First a few hundred metres. Then a few kilometres.

It didn't take long until I was hooked!

Ducking through the trees, jumping over logs and springing across creeks.

Fast forward a little and I still wouldn’t say I’m a runner yet.

I’m inconsistent at best and 16km is my longest-ever run/walk.

But, 2 weeks ago I enrolled in the 50km race. 

I want to increase my 'hard threshold' so it puts things that seem hard (but aren’t) into context.

Is that weird?

Maybe… But anyway, let’s look at building habits around a goal like that.

(Or any goal you have)

It’s obvious that I can’t just turn up on the day, run, and think I’ll make it. 

Nor can I cram in training in the last few weeks. 

So like any worthy goal, I have to build solid habits that prepare me for the race.

But there's more to habit formation than just doing something consistently.

It starts with:

Education

There’s millions of free articles, podcasts and Youtube content on the internet outlining in vivid detail what I can do to prepare.

• Hydration
• Equipment
• Training plans
• Nutrition plans
• Race day preparations 

You name it, someone’s recorded it for you to consume and educate yourself about it. 

This applies to just about any goal you can imagine. 

So start with free content to rapidly boost your knowledge. 

But the challenge is to turn that into a habit by putting time in your calendar to consume the information at set points throughout the week.

Coaching

Coaching can force habit formation through repetition and accountability. 

That’s the value of getting a trainer, coach, or a good mentor.

I haven’t locked one in yet but I do know someone who’s run the 100km version of the race before and I have a fitness coach whose employees are competing in the challenge too.

I expect in the coming weeks I’ll outline a rigid plan of what types of running and training to do across the week, how to increase the intensity without burning out and what days to do it on so I can manage recovery and sustain progress.

This same process applies to nearly every habit you’re trying to form.

It can be really helpful to find someone who’s done it before who can help you delete unnecessary bits and help you focus on the right actions and the right time.

Environment  

If I’m going to run 3 times a week I need it to be easy.  

One of my strategies is to run the same trails so I don’t have to think. 

Going to the same place each day means fewer barriers and makes it easier to form habits. 

For you, set up your environment, go to the same familiar place and optimes everything to make doing the action (the thing that'll get you to your goal) easy.

I make sure my gear, shoes and backpack are always ready in my car so that I can leave work, stop by those familiar trails and run as far as time permits. 

Use In-between Times

Most big goals require a bunch of hidden actions.

Things you didn’t expect you’d need to do, or things that if you did them would give you an advantage. 

Rather than let them eat into my time doing other things, I like to utilise wasted time. 

To break old habits like scrolling on my phone or watching tv.

For example, training makes me sore AF. 

So sitting in front of the tv for an hour is now an opportunity for stretching and mobility. 

Look for where you waste time and stuff it with productive things.

Triggers

Every habit needs a trigger. 

A reminder, a prompt, even a visualisation to make you take action. For example: when you pass through a doorway you remember to fix your posture.

I set loads of reminders, block out calendars and plan when I’ll work on the things that get me towards a goal.

Triggers work more times than not having them but often I still get completely derailed.

- Busy at work

- Family event

- Shitty weather

And that’s where you need a recovery plan.

When life bumps you off track from the habits you’re desperately trying to bed in, have a plan to recover. 

What will you do to get back on track? 

For me and this particular goal, I can run in the gym on the treadmill.

(Boring as shit but it'll get the job done)

Or I could prioritise running for the following day. 

OR I could just harden the F up and run in the rain!

Either way, the point is that this year is about focusing on those tiny daily actions that if completed over and over again, would yield the result you want. 

If I train consistently, slowly increase the intensity and distance, the race will take care of itself. I'm not there to win, I'm there to finish.

I hope this helps you build better habits this year!

 All the best.