Behavior goals

A little on goals, just for a change of pace. If you want to have more actual control over whether you reach a goal or not, make it a behavior goal. In other words, make it a goal to exhibit some behavior for a set amount of time. In the weight-loss realm, that would translate into a goal to, for instance, eat within a certain calorie range every day for a week. If you are on Weight Watchers, it might be to stay “on plan” for a week, since being “on plan” has definite parameters.

An outcome goal is a goal to attain a specific outcome. Again, in the weight-loss arena, that would be something like a goal to lose 10 pounds or a goal to weigh 150 pounds.

If you compare the two, you can see that you have pretty much total control over whether you attain the behavior goal – you make the decisions, hour by hour, to either stay within that calorie range or not. But when trying to attain an outcome goal, there are a lot of things not under your control. You get your period and retain water, so your weight is up. You eat like you should and for some mysterious reason, your weight stays the same. This can be very frustrating. So, the solution is to concentrate on changing your behaviors, because that is the real key to maintaining the weight loss in the end, anyway.

And, as an added bonus, if you see yourself successfully accomplishing these individual behavior goals, you will be more motivated to stick with it until the weight does finally come off.

So, how about it? Are you ready to set yourself some behavioral goals?