‘Stay inspired’ is advice offered when we are in the pursuit of long-term goals. Becoming inspired usually is the easy part. Keeping that momentum going, however, is the true task. In this post we’ll discuss tips and tools that you can use to stay inspired with your health and wellness goals.

Shape Your Vision into a Goal

Be precise with your vision. What exactly do you want? “I want to lose weight. I want to feel better. I want to be stronger.” These are desires, not goals. A goal is a clear vision paired with a definition of success. Goals must be measurable.

Examples could be:

•Losing 20 pounds.
•Walking three miles without getting winded.
•Being able to lift an aging dog into the car.

Make a Timeline

Once you have set your goal, you can create a timeline to keep yourself on track. What is a fair—or generous—estimate of the time needed to reach that goal? Keep in mind that setbacks can and will happen. Build grace into your vision.

Choose Mini Goals

Often a big goal will take a substantial amount of time to achieve. It’s great to have such ambitious goals, but it can be difficult to stay inspired when success seems so far off. The key is to map out a plan with opportunities to check in often. What smaller goals can you build into your plan to keep your momentum going?

While not necessary, you may want to consider asking a professional for help creating a clear vision with mini goals and a fair timeline.

Track Your Progress

When we feel stagnant, it's easy to lose motivation. But progress can be hard to see in the moment, especially if we are relying on feelings/subjective assessments or only paying attention to the high notes and personal bests. Whether you track your progress with special software or pen and paper, keeping a record of a few relevant metrics can give you a different view of your performance.

Maybe you hit a personal record a few weeks ago and haven't been able to repeat it. If you're tracking each individual effort, you might notice that your average pace has continued to improve. Celebrate every win along the way.

Create a Team

Identify the people with whom you can share your vision and discuss your goals, your setbacks, and your progress—people who will be rooting for you but also keeping you accountable. You may want to include someone who has had success with a similar goal in the past, or a coach, trainer, mentor, or other subject matter expert to provide guidance along the way. It’s also important to find those that will simply support you and cheer you on. Your team should encourage the behaviors that will help you reach your goal. They should be people who want to see you succeed.

Zoom Out

Setbacks will happen. Getting too eager too fast will happen. While some might advise you to ‘never look back,’ I’d challenge that notion because looking at the past can show how far you’ve come and provide historical data on what was successful for you and what was not. Taking a moment to reflect on the big picture is important. Remember, your plan is editable.

Protect your Alone Time

Read. Reflect. Renew. Make and keep a promise to have time to yourself to check in and refocus. Find stories that inspire you towards your goal, even if they are stories of people with goals different than your own. How do they apply to you? What connections can you make to renew your own fire?

Take the time you need to create, reflect, and recharge your batteries. Find and share motivational material with your team and come back to it when you are feeling like you need a boost.

Be Consistent

You won't see good results if you don't put in the work—yet there will certainly be times when you're just not feeling it. Maybe you're having trouble recovering from a setback. Maybe you're feeling drained from work or family obligations. Maybe you're in a rut.

You don't have to wait for inspiration to show up before working toward your goal. Show up anyway. Do the work. Stick with the plan you put together when you were feeling inspired. Invite inspiration back into your life—and be ready to say "welcome back" when it returns.

Compete

Competition can be a great thing, whether it’s you versus others or you versus you. Competition helps establish standards and baselines. It also can push you to work harder than you would otherwise, and give you the opportunity to work at your max potential to complete a sub-goal along the way.

Give Back

Enjoy the fruits of all the hard work you’ve put in toward reaching your goal by giving back. Share the knowledge you’ve gained with others. Offer support. Be a part of someone else’s team. Doing so will help you become a better team member, and may also help you identify areas where you have made more progress than you realize.

Show Gratitude

Showing gratitude can help establish and maintain a positive mindset. Give thanks and show appreciation to others. Importantly, give thanks and show appreciation to yourself. Setting goals and staying inspired is challenging but rewarding work. Honoring the good deeds, actions, and sentiments of yourself and others keeps the focus on the positive.

Perspective is a game changer as we seek to stay inspired. Creating a vision, making a plan, sticking to it consistently (not perfectly), and keeping a positive mindset are important. Remind yourself regularly why you set out to achieve your goals. Surround yourself with motivating stories and motivating people, be grateful, and help others succeed as well.

I cannot wait to hear your success story!

And remember—you are worth it.

Tips and Tools for Staying Inspired