Are you forever setting health and well-being goals and not achieving them? If so, you are one of the many people we see each day who are trapped in a cycle and often express feelings of despair, dis-empowerment and desperation.

Its usually at that point that we can be vulnerable to impulse buying that crazy fad diet or exercise gadget, no matter how weird it sounds. So, other than buying those ab circle lemon detox thingies, what can you do about it? How do you break free?

It’s all about strategy. There are 5 Simple Tools that will help you to develop a plan and stick to it. We’ve put them to the test and they work.

WRITE DOWN YOUR ‘BIG’ GOALS It worked for me – I wrote down 4 goals and nailed them by the end of the year.

MEASUREABLE AND SPECIFIC So you want to ‘lose weight’, ‘get toned’, ‘bulk up’ or even ‘get healthier’ but these aren’t goals, they are general targets.

Losing 4kgs of body fat, gaining 4kg of muscle, fitting into a loved item of clothing, dropping your cholesterol by 40 points – these are goals because they can be measured and are specific.

TIME Goals need to have a timeline. Losing 4kg by when? Make sure getting to your goal is not overly stressful or difficult and set a date.

REALISTIC Trying to lose 20kg in 2 weeks is not a realistic goal. You know you’re setting yourself up for failure. We need to understand what is attainable and set a realistic goal, get advice if you’re unsure.

YOUR BIG WHY Remember, even athletes have a coach to keep them focused, so getting clarity on what drives and inspires you is critical to success.

Our brains are wired to seek out pleasure, train your brain to desire the change and journey ahead.

Close your eyes and imagine you’ve actually achieved your goal. How does it feel? Write down all the words that come to mind. Once you’ve completed the above scenario, close your eyes again and imagine you didn’t make a change, where will you be at your deadline? Would it be worse than where you are now? Now write down how you would feel. Last of all; keep all of this information somewhere handy so you can revise it when you’re having a down day. If you get off track, don’t despair, learn from your experience and get going again. With the right support system and persistence you will get there, we’re sure of it.

If you’re struggling and need a friendly group of people or coach to keep you on track, then pop your details into the ‘Talk to us’ for a free no obligation goal setting session.