Author: Anna Frinzi
Goals, goals, goals. We hear that word a lot especially around this time of year. New Year’s Resolutions, 2020, a new decade. What do YOU have in mind to make this your best year yet?
These questions can feel overwhelming and so can goal setting. It can be challenging to determine a starting point with a goal and then determine the steps necessary to achieve it. Once you determine your super goal and ultimate why for your Noom journey, it can be beneficial to break this down into smaller focus areas. For example, if your goal is to lose 30 pounds in 1 year, you may want to adjust your eating habits, improve your exercise routine, and increase your water consumption. With these specific focus areas, we can then create small, realistic goals that can be more easily achieved.
If you are not convinced that goal setting is for you, check out these four points that intelligent researchers have discovered after thorough studies on the benefits of goals.
Here are four notable ways that goals positively affect our performance:
- Find a clear direction with goals. When setting goals, creating action steps assists in implementing positive behaviors and directs away from behaviors and activities that do not align with the goals set. While this may seem obvious, it is valuable to stay on track and determine a clear focus toward your ultimate why and motivations behind your journey.
- Goals serve as an energizing function. The higher the goal is set, the greater the effort we will make to achieve the goal stated. Shoot for the stars! It is valuable to set a realistic goal; however, aiming to set a higher level goal (rather than a more low-level goal) increases the effort you’ll put into the goal according to this fascinating scientific research (#Noomnerds!).
- Persistence pays off. Setting goals affects persistence in a positive way. With having specific goals to aim for, our perseverance increases. This is the power of setting goals and working towards a specific focus, such as your super goal at Noom! Setting goals with a time frame and setting a plan for how much time you will dedicate to the goal increase the effort put in as found by goal-setting research from LaPorte and Nath as published by the American Psychological Association. This goal setting reframes obstacles into challenges to overcome, rather than reasons to fail.
- Strategize! When setting doable goals, it can help produce that realization of what excites and inspires you on the path to health and wellness. Discovering the strategies that lead to success are more prone to be found with goal setting and assist in reducing the boredom as found by research done by Locke and Latham. Spice up your routine and try new strategies when setting goals to discover what motivates and sparks that fire inside of you!
In light of these amazing benefits of goal setting, consider discussing this with your goal specialist at Noom and work to create realistic, small steps to your super goal. Set your goals into actions and create a plan! As the French writer/poet Antoine de Saint-Exupery stated, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
