How To Adjust Your Mindset If You Haven't Reached Your Goals Yet

Here in the SWEAT Community, we spend a lot of time talking about goals. We discuss setting goals for fitness and for eating healthily. We talk about working to reach your goals and keeping up your motivation along the way. So today, we want to talk about something slightly different: what should you do when you haven’t reached your goals?

How to adjust your mindset

If you set some goals at the start of the year, or you tried to work hard at keeping new year's resolutions for your health, it can feel like a personal letdown if you didn’t quite get there. These are a few tips to help you keep at it, and to re-adjust your mindset for success!

Reflect on the things you did well

It is way too easy to spend more time focusing on the negative, like saying “I didn’t lose all of the weight I planned to” to yourself. To balance these thoughts out, try remembering the things you did well. Maybe you’ve found a way to eat healthier regularly throughout the week, rather than relying on takeaway. Or you’re taking steps to start working out in the morning. Whatever it is, make sure you celebrate your successes. 

No matter what your goals were, failing to reach them doesn’t mean YOU are a failure. So don’t let that thought, or the fear of failing again in the future, hold you back. Keep trying. 

Learn from the experience

This way, you can understand why things went wrong, and work on the aspects that need improving. While your overall goal might have been to feel better or to become more fit, this can be really hard to follow through on. Without having a clear plan and specific goals, it can be hard to keep your focus. 

It’s also a good time to reflect on the expectations you set for yourself. Are they actually connected to you, and to your thoughts? Or are they based on what you’re seeing online, or through social media? Consider your own values and what matters to you most, then re-examine your goal list. Give yourself a strong reason to strive for them. 

Remember that you can set goals at ANY time

While the start of the year is a great time to start a new challenge or to set new goals, it’s not the only time you can do this. If you truly want to make a change for your health, or for your lifestyle, then start today. Or tomorrow. Just START. 

You can change your mindset!

It’s important to remember that both failure and success are a part of life, which goes for your health and fitness goals as well. Take a moment to think of the progress you have made during the year and the things you have learned. Now find your source of motivation and start believing that you can do it!

Best of luck!