Setting Sustainable Goals

Mental healthPhysical healthSocial healthHealth TipsAugust 28, 2024

Dr Jo Lukins is a psychology and high-performance consultant. She has spent years working with athletes and high-achievers, learning what makes them tick and amassing plenty of goal-related wisdom. Here she offers her advice on setting sustainable goals:

Goals are a key factor in success

A clear sense of what you want to achieve and what needs to be done to get there is instrumental in success. If you have an outcome in mind and a pathway, that’s effective goal setting!

Getting started

Before selecting your goals, try reflecting on why you might not be achieving your goal right now. Goal setting is often about what we need to start doing, but it can help to spend some time thinking about what to stop doing and what to do more of.

What can we do when trying to achieve a goal?

Understand why the goal is important to you.
Consider why the goal might not be within your reach.
Evaluate your progress to realize how far you’ve come.
Be kind to yourself.
Try to be realistic.
Take care of your body and wellbeing.
Don’t chase other people’s dreams.

Setting sustainable goals

Dr Lukins says that in the 21st century, it is still “too common” for goal-makers to set their sights on the unachievable:

“People have good intentions, yet…they don’t really think through the pathway from the goal to the actions required to achieve it,” she says.

Signs of impending failure

Doom and gloom are likely when goals tick certain boxes. Signs you might be setting yourself up to fail could include:

Doubt in your ability to achieve your goal.
Setting goals that are too high or in too short a timeframe.
Not having a good understanding of what is needed to achieve the goal.
Not having thought through the barriers.

Recipe for success

To increase your odds of achieving your goals, Dr Lukins suggests:

Clearly outline your goal and why it is currently not happening for you.
Set a realistic plan for success and the steps needed to achieve it.
Write the plan down and tell someone else your intentions.
Get started on the steps, evaluating your progress as you go.
Celebrate the small wins along the way.

Bring someone along for the ride

Research published in 2015 suggests that we’re likely to exercise more when we have the support of a new gym buddy.

A 1999 paper also suggested that friends can help us go the distance. Of those who entered a weight loss program with a friend, 95% completed treatment compared to 76% who entered the program solo.

Whatever your goal may be, just remember roadblocks are inevitable.

“Of course there will be setbacks,” says Dr Lukins. “Disappointment and failure are not the opposite of success – they are the pathway to it.”

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Sources

British Journal of Health Psychology, 2015

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1999

Email interview with Dr Jo Lukins, author, psychology and high-performance consultant, 2021

The Elite: Think Like an Athlete, Succeed Like a Champion, Dr Jo Lukins, 2019