3… 2… 1… ACTION (Goals, Part IV)

I hope everyone had a refreshing Easter holiday! I know I did! Got to spend the weekend with my Knoxville family and we ate lots of smoked meat and veggies! Delicious! We are wrapping up our series on goal-setting. We've covered people's hesitation to set goals, the benefits of & guidelines to set goals, SMART goals, and now let's get down and dirty to our ACTION PLAN! :) By now you should have at least 3-5 goals to work with. If not, jot some down now. We are going to take each goal and plan steps to ensure our success. Let's take three goals that are common to most people and create a step-by-step ACTION PLAN to acquire the results we want most:

1. Lose 10# fat by August 1 (measurement: online body fat calculator with inches measurement)
2. Eat 80% Paleo by August 1 (measurement: # of Paleo meals eaten each week)
3. Improve quality of marriage by 30% by August 1 (measurement: amount of frustration, conversation, quality time spent together, sex experienced each week)

These are all fantastic goals that will greatly enhance your quality of life AND the way you interact with others when achieved. We are not finished, though, even though we have SMART goals. Now, we must think of ways to achieve those goals. Two guidelines:

• Think of 2-5 specific steps of ACTION to achieve the goal
• Think of a specific PERSON who can support you in this goal (note: pick someone who can actually help you and will not degrade you because you want to better yourself)

It will look like this: 1. Lose 10# fat by August 1 (measurement: online body fat calculator with inches measurement) Action #1: Eat 2 Paleo meals per day and not snack between meals, helper: Clint Action #2: Exercise 3-4x per week, helper: Pat Action #3: Take inches & weight once per week, helper: Clint 2. Eat 80% Paleo by August 1 (measurement: # of Paleo meals eaten each week). Action #1: Grocery shop once per week & chop/prepare all foods on Sat/Sun for the week, helper: Clint. Action #2: Find one new recipe per week that is Paleo for our family, helper: Laura Action #3: Find Paleo menu options at restaurants & have a PLAN before going in, helper: Clint. 3. Improve quality of marriage by 30% by August 1 (measurement: amount of frustration, conversation, quality time spent together, sex experienced each week) Action #1: Pick up 10 things around the house every day, helper: Pat Action #2: Schedule 10 min. per day to simply converse (ask about day, about future plans, etc.), helper: Pat Action#3: One date night a week, helper: Daniel Action #4: Schedule sex 3x/week, helper: Clint ;) Action #5: Every time I want to nag, say something positive instead like words of praise or admiration, helper: Pat As you can see, some of these goals interact with each other and that is perfectly fine. Use them together to get results faster! Check in with your helper every couple of weeks or so in order for them to check in on you, ask about your progress and/or provide helpful ideas, tips or tricks to aid you in your journey! Although you may be hesitant about a helper, I assure you that it is important as we do better in community instead of all alone! They want you to succeed! I promise! What are some of your goals? We can help hold you accountable within this community as well. Share them below!