Mastering Commitment: 5 Proven Tips for Achieving Your Goals with Unwavering Determination

Goals provide the driving force that allow you to begin with the end in mind, create a plan, and foster the dedication to make your goals a reality.  What happens when your goals feel more like a dream – like the carrot dangling, just out of reach, but always in the forefront of your vision?  

Without a plan, goals are simply that – a dream.  Whether it’s a new year, your birthday, an anniversary, doctor’s orders, personal ambition, or any other reason that is nudging you to set some big intentions, don’t lose sight of your why, and follow these tips to help you stay committed to YOU and what lit your fire in the first place. 

Believe in yourself

It feels so easy to instill belief in our friends and family members when they are working towards a big goal. We pump them up, celebrate the win before it even happens, envision how great they will feel – we believe the obstacles in the way will be overcome.

Then we focus on our own dreams and allow doubt and negative self-talk to creep in. The what-ifs, the hardship you may face, the failure, discomfort, or simply your overall disbelief in yourself to make it happen.

Your mind will believe what you tell it, so make sure your self-talk is all about the positive outcomes that you will create and enjoy the journey. Speak these goals into existence as if they are reality. If your goal is to knock 20 seconds off your 5k time, imagine yourself crossing the finish line with the clock reading that number. Talk about it as though it is in the present: “It feels so good knowing that all my training paid off, and I set a new PR for myself!”  Maybe your goal is to feel confident in a bathing suit on vacation.  “I am obsessed with my new bathing suit and how confident I feel with the fabric hugging my body.” 

My twin sister advocates the power of manifestation.  When I was competing and working towards earning my IFBB pro card in figure, she told me to just walk on stage and believe I was a pro.  Leading up to Team Universe, when I would practice my posing I would hold each pose and say in my head, “I’m a fucking pro.”  When I went on stage that year I kept repeating to myself, “I’m a fucking pro.”  As if it were magic, when they announced my name after prejudging and comparisons, I did in fact earn my pro card that day.  It was a moment that served as a little wink from the Universe that the power of belief – of manifesting – does exist.

Everything you can imagine is real.

Pablo Picasso 

Self-efficacy is your belief in your own ability to complete a task or reach your goal.  When you develop this, you naturally find yourself diving deeper into activities that will help you along your journey. You become more committed to your goals, handle setbacks more easily, and are more receptive to taking on the challenges that come you way.    

When you struggle to believe in yourself – borrow belief from those around you.  Connect with friends and family and let their belief in you seep into your system.  

Write down your goals, have a plan, and share!

Belief is the foundation, and action is the driver. You need both. The act of writing your goals creates a commitment to yourself – think of it like your contract with yourself.  Y’all likely know about SMART goals, so implement this strategy!  Create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

I love registering for races for this reason – aside from being competitive and I love the structure and accomplishment – races create a very specific goal that is measurable; of course it’s attainable, as many have done it before me; it’s absolutely relevant for many of my goals; and races always are time-bound to the date it takes place.  It doesn’t have to be a race; although if you’re here, you’ve likely raced or are thinking about it or some sort of competition.  

When writing down your goals, include an area to share your WHY.  Dig deep here.  Whatever you put down as your knee jerk response, ask yourself why – again!  Keep asking why to each response and peel back the layers.  Here is an example:

I want to complete a half marathon…why?

I’ve toyed with the idea and always make up excuses to not do it…why?

Because I’ve lacked belief in my ability to stay committed…why?

If I don’t commit, I can’t fail, and I’m afraid of failure…why?

Because I want my kids to see me succeed, rather than fail…

The one who falls and gets up is stronger than the one who never tried. Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.

Roy T. Bennett

This is your true why.  You want your kids to see you set your sight on something, watch you work hard for it, and reach your goals.  My tip here would be to focus on the PROCESS, rather than the outcome.  Process goals keep you consistent.

The second part of this is sharing.  While sharing might not be for anyone – some of us do like to make moves in silence, and that’s totally okay. In fact some would argue that sharing your goals isn’t always the best course of action. However, in my experience this brings your accountability to a new level.  When I was toying with the idea of registering for my first Ironman 70.3, I allowed myself to go back and forth with the why’s and why not’s of signing up.  Then, I decided to post it on IG, and it was like I set it in stone.  I announced it to my friends, family, and followers – I could not back down.  If you have some fear behind your goal, even more reason to share – plus, a little fear is a great thing!  Unfortunately, fear stops many people from setting big goals and working their ass off to achieve them.  Don’t let that be you.  Map out a plan and let the world know.  Besides, you already have the belief in yourself, and let this be your roadmap. 

By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own.

Mark Victor Hansen

You don’t have to be perfect

First of all, nobody is perfect.  Even the idols you look up to – they make mistakes, they fall short on their goals, they have self-doubt at times, they feel judged, they’re human!  If you are looking for perfection, I can say with a good amount of confidence that you will fail.  Even if you don’t really fail, you’ll probably find some silly reason to THINK that you failed. When you are so dialed into perfection, a small hiccup in your plan can throw you for a loop.  Big goals don’t have time for nonsense behavior like that.  If you let small setbacks shut you down, you need to toughen up when it comes to setting and working towards big goals.  Or small goals!  They’re all important.  

The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.

Edwin Bliss

Share and celebrate your wins!

You better celebrate and be damn proud of your success!  If you don’t celebrate yourself, who cares who else does.  Hug yourself, post about it, call a friend, tell your co-workers – again, let the world know.  You deserve that.  No goal or win is too small.  Here’s an example.  

I don’t bake, and I’m not quite sure if monkey bread counts as baking BUT it’s baking for me.  My nephews LOVE my monkey bread and they specifically request and make sure that I am making it on Thanksgiving.  My goal is to make them happy!  I am fully aware that monkey bread is total garbage, so please no attacks on the food choices.  It’s a holiday and I will not stress about it.  You know for damn sure that my co-workers, studio members, friends, family and anyone who views my stories is aware that I’m making monkey bread and it was a huge success.  That is obviously a small goal, but it makes my heart happy and I want to celebrate it.  

Bottom line – EVERY win should be celebrated.  

Set new goals

Yay!  You accomplished what you set out to do! Do not stop there. You can bask in the glory for a few days or maybe even weeks, but it’s important to think about what’s next for you!  If you set a goal, accomplish it, and then have nothing lined up to focus on, this can lead to feeling unmotivated, or set you back from how far you’ve come.  This is often the case when the goal is around weight loss or health.  

I’ll give an example of “what’s next”.  If your goal was to lose 15 lbs, and you hit that goal (go you!), but now there’s nothing around the corner, you may very likely settle into your old ways of eating, drinking, and exercise, or lack thereof.  The healthier option might be that you now want to put on 3 lbs of muscle.  And don’t gasp at the idea of putting on weight.  That can be a whole other blog.  Or maybe the next goal is to help motivate your friend to lose weight or live a healthier lifestyle and you become accountability partners.  Another thought might be that you add in more veggies to your meals.  Consider entering a road race…you’ve got options!

The main thing is to focus on what’s next.  Continue to level up in your pursuit of bringing out your best self.  Don’t settle and always know that you are capable of more than you know.  But luckily we covered the importance of belief and giving yourself the power to know that you can accomplish BIG THINGS! I believe in you, and if you ever need an extra nudge of support or want to take your goals and training to the next level, I got you!