Crushing Your 2022 Goals

This time between Christmas and New Years Day has always been for me a time of taking stock: I like to spend some time reflecting on the last year and setting goals for the New Year. I try not to think about them as New Year’s Resolutions, because usually, those never work out very well!

On this podcast, Marchelle and I want to help you, our listener, to think about setting goals for the New Year in a new way. Tune in, so that you don’t get to February 1st and realize that you’ve already given up!

You can use this process for any goal you might want to accomplish, whether it’s weight-related or not.

Episode Highlights:

5:22 Most people who struggle with their weight have this identity that says I'm overweight and I need to lose weight. And all through the weight loss process that identity never really shifts. They keep asking the question, "am I trying to lose weight right now?" In other words, am I on a diet right now or not?

But this kind of thinking is not consistent with long term weight loss. If you keep thinking like this, you'll never be able to keep your weight off.

12:04 So, if you kind of think about it, what we're doing here is we're reverse engineering your outcome. So, you do decide who you want to be and then you reverse engineer what you need to do to become that person.

13:20 Now I'm going to give you a few more hints as you think about reverse engineering your goals for 2022.

You're going to start with the identity: Who do you want to be and how do you want to show up in the world.

Welcome friends to the last episode of 2021! Wow what a year it’s been!

This time between Christmas and New Years has always been for me a time of taking stock and thinking about what I want to accomplish next year. I like to take time off from seeing patients in the office and just spend time reflecting and setting goals for the New Year. I try not to think about them as New Year’s Resolutions because usually, those never work out very well!

Think about it: How many times have you set New Years Resolutions and then completely forgotten them on Jan 2nd? Or maybe you’ve managed to do some work for a few weeks or even a few months, and then you just lost steam.

On this podcast, I wanted to help you, our listener, to think about setting goals for the New Year in a new way… so that you don’t get to February 1st and realize that you’ve already given up. This happens often when someone is starting a weight loss journey on January 1. They are all gung ho for a week or two or three, but after a while they usually start to lose motivation and then they give up. How often has that happened to you? I know it’s happened to me.

So I want to help you think about this differently this year. You can use this process for any goal you might want to accomplish, whether it’s weight related or not.

In my online courses and when I’m working with patients, I always show people a diagram that I made that I adapted from a book by James Clear called “Atomic Habits.” Since I can’t show it to you on a podcast, I will describe it. Imagine 3 concentric circles, A large one, a middle sized one and a smaller one. The largest circle is your outcome. This is what you want to have happen. Your result. Let’s say you want to lose 30 lbs of fat.

The middle circle is the process you go through or the habits you are going to set up to achieve that outcome. For most people who want to lose weight, this will be some sort of diet or exercise program, or both. Most people are very focused on the process, the diet, and the result, how much weight have I lost. So they ask themselves and other people ask them questions like How’s the diet going, how much weight have I lost? There is lots and lots of focus on the diet and the weight lost. Back and forth it goes between hows the diet going and how much weight have i lost?

Usually they forget about the inside circle … which actually turns out to be the most important. And that Innermost circle is Identity. What you believe about yourself. How you think about yourself? Most people who struggle with their weight have this identity that says I’m overweight and I need to lose weight. And all through the weight loss process that identity never really shifts. They keep thinking of themselves as someone who is overweight and needs to lose weight and the only question is am I trying to lose weight right now - in other words, am I on a diet right now or not?

Folks, this thinking is not consistent with long term weight loss!!

[Marchelle comments]

Here’s what I want you to understand. Long term weight loss requires a complete shift in identity. You can’t keep thinking of yourself as someone who is overweight who needs to lose weight. You will want to approach it differently. You will want to start at the most important part, innermost circle, which is the identity.

So I’d invite you to just close your eyes for a moment, if it’s safe to do so - don’t do this if you're driving or jogging - but if it’s safe, just imagine yourself a year from now. Imagine that you’ve lost all your weight. If you’ve been listening to this podcast, I took you through a similar visioning process a few weeks ago. Imagine yourself in your ideal body, you’re able to move freely, you’re not achy any more, you’re free of cravings for junk food, you have good energy and stamina, you exercise regularly and enjoy it, and you love getting dressed in the morning because all the clothes in your closet fit.

This is the new you. This is your new identity. You are thriving in a healthy vibrant body that you’re proud of. Get a very clear picture in your head of this future you.

Now let’s move from that inner identity circle to the next circle out. Remember this circle is process or habits. What sorts of things does this future you do just as a matter of course when you have that future identity?

So for example, I see myself as a healthy vibrant person. I happen to be living in a crazy country where most people are really sick and don’t know it. As a healthy vibrant person, I don’t eat junk food. You will never catch me eating fast food. It actually churns my stomach to imagine eating at McDonalds or Taco Bell. The only reason I’d ever go into one of those restaurants is if I were on a road trip and needed to use the restroom! Eating that sort of food is just not consistent with the identity I have of a healthy vibrant person. Does that make sense?

Another habit I have is that I plan all my meals ahead of time. I don’t leave my nutrition to chance. I know that as a healthy person I can’t leave my nutrition to chance. I certainly don’t want to be skipping meals. So i plan the night before what I’ll have the next day. I plan when I’m going on a trip what I’ll carry in my backpack in case my plane gets delayed. I have rituals and habits that support my identity as a healthy vibrant person.

Now for the outermost circle, which if you remember is the outcome. The weight loss. Here’s the deal. You don’t have to worry about that. It takes care of itself. It’s the result of these new habits that you’re setting up as part of your new identity.

See how this works? It’s a little bit like reverse-engineering your outcome. You decide who you want to be and then you reverse-engineer what you need to do to become that person.

[Marchelle makes any comments]

We help you do this, we support you with all of this, in our membership. It’s all online And I’d invite you to get started with us by signing up for our Done with Dieting Bootcamp that starts on January first. This is a really fun bootcamp, and I’ve been working hard getting it ready for you. It’s 30 days of daily videos and some worksheets that will teach you the science and get you started on some of the psychological principles that are required for lasting weight loss. I teach you everything I teach my patients. Everything. By the time you're done with just this first 30 days you will know more about weight loss than your own doctor, unless your doctor is an Obesity Medicine specialist! So I’d really encourage you to join us in this bootcamp!

Now I’m going to give you a few more hints as you think about reverse engineering your goals for 2022.

Start with the identity. Who do you want to be? How do you want to show up in the world? Get this vision clear in your head. Write it down. Read it every morning and every night. Remember that repetition will build the new pathways in the brain that are required for lasting change.

Next, think about actions. What does this new you do every day? What do you eat? How do you plan? What do you do for exercise? How do you manage tricky situations like parties, restaurants, and travel?

Next think about the feelings that drive those behaviors. All behavior is driven by a feeling. How do you feel about planning and preparing meals? How do you feel about your body? If you feel discouraged or frustrated, this will not fuel the actions you need in order to become the new you. You want to feel inspired, focused, determined, right?

So… all feelings are driven by thought. So what new thoughts are you going to think that will create the feeling you need to have in order to perform the actions? For example, do you feel empowered when you think about this new identity? What thoughts will create a feeling of empowerment? I love my thought that I’m a healthy vibrant person. That is a thought I have about myself that i have thought so many times that its a belief. I believe I’m a healthy vibrant person. When I believe I’m a healthy vibrant person I feel empowered. When I feel empowered it’s not a problem to plan meals. I don’t have to motivate myself to do this. I just do it naturally because of what I think and how I feel about myself.

If i keep having this thought that I’m overweight and I need to lose weight and I feel discouraged, or perhaps even disgusted with myself, and I go on a diet to try to fix it, what’s going to happen? I’m just going to get even more discouraged and eventually I’ll give up. So you will want to begin with the right thoughts, and you will want to practice them over and over again until they become second nature to you and they fuel you with the right feelings so that the actions become easy.

Does this make sense? This is why lasting weight loss starts with your thought. Everything you think matters. Everything.

And this is why I say the weight loss journey, done right, is like training ground to a new much more satisfying life. It’s a journey of massive transformation. You can use what you learn in your weight loss journey and apply it to everything else in your life. You will discover how much more satisfying your career can be, how much more satisfying your relationships can be, how much more satisfying LIFE can be. But you have to be willing to go beyond the standard diet programs that are out there and dig a little deeper.

[Marchelle comments]

Alright everyone i hope this has helped you with setting your goals for the New Year. I love this time of year, I love the fresh start. I’d encourage you to join us in the Done with Dieting Bootcamp, where you can learn everything you need to know so that you too can thrive in a healthy vibrant body that you’re proud of. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together in 2022!

Alright everyone have a great week, a Happy and Safe New Year’s celebration, and we’ll see you in 2022!

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Dr. Angela

This episode was produced and marketed by the Get Known Service