I love “starts”… The start of a new day, the start of a new week, the start of a new workout, the start of a new year, well you get the picture.

Looking Back

I don’t only love new beginnings, I love looking back and analyzing what I’ve accomplished, and my team and I accomplished a TON in 2022.  We created a new website for John Garey TV that’s easier to navigate with tons of new features and programs for our members.  We created a new website for Pilates Grad School with a great new look and more workshops for teachers.  And personally, I went back to teaching live workshops and live on-line classes, which I love so much!  So many great things happened, but there’s still so much more to do.  And, I’m beginning this year with a combination of personal goals that tie in with my goals for JGTV and Pilates Grad School.

My Big Goal

I decided that I want to lose the weight that has creeped up on me over the last couple of years.  That extra weight has been affecting my body, my health, and my appearance.  And it’s time to shed it! 

My Why

When I look at the reasons why I want to make this change, I realize that it’s based primarily on health reasons.  I want better bloodwork.  I want better blood pressure.  I want to feel better. I want to be able to move and do the things I love better.  I want my 60s to be the best they can be! And…I want to fit into my favorite clothes and look great in them.  

My How

So that’s my why, but what is my how?  Looking at the why gives me everything I need to know about the how.  If health and wellness is my number 1 priority, then getting to my ideal weight needs to be accomplished with that in mind.  I need to clean up my act.  This is where my journey starts and I also want to love the process.  More on that in our next blog post in 10 days.

How You Fit In

I don’t just want this 100 Day Challenge for me!  My purpose in life is to help and inspire others through health and fitness.  So I want you to join me on this journey of 100 days.  You can read and watch my journey, or you can actively participate with your own goals and share the experience with me.  I’m basing my 100 Day Challenge on current research as well as things I know have worked for me in the past, and avoiding things I know did not serve me in the past when working toward goals.  I want to share all of that with you.  So no matter what your goals are this year, I want us BOTH to succeed.  I’ll share resources I’m using so you can use them too.  I’ll share my highs and lows (hopefully there are way more highs) along the way.  And I’d like you to share your journey with me and with our community.  If we do this together, I know we’ll succeed.  Are you in?  All you have to do is commit to 100 days AND start.  Here are our first steps on our 100 day Journey.

Get Started 

Don’t worry!  I’ve created resources for you to use. 

For this blog, we’re going to focus on setting the goal properly and creating action steps.  In future blogs, we’ll dig in deeper on measuring, staying on track, tips and tricks, and current research to help us achieve our goals.  Let’s get started with the big picture now.

  1. Write your goal down (get ready to keep a journal, because that will help you achieve your goal). And remember that it’s okay to change your goal(s) along the way.  Remember, my goal is weight loss.  So I’ll be giving examples specific to that, but you’ll need to find your own answers.  I’ll help.

Get specific!  Your goal should be as specific as possible.  It can be big or small – but medium is the perfect choice for our timeline.  Make it something that you think you can achieve in 100 days.  If it’s bigger, break it down into smaller goals.  If it’s smaller, think about how you can make it bigger.  Make it something you have to work for, something you have to take action to achieve.  That’s what makes it a goal!

Why 100 Days?  Because what we’re doing to achieve our goals is creating new habits.  That will take time.  PLUS I LOVE the number 100.  It’s one of the most popular Pilates exercises.  It’s a bit longer than 3 months, but it’s not as long as a year.  So it feels perfect to me for a life changing goal.

  1. Determine your why!  Why do you want to reach your goal?  This is a SUPER important part of reaching your goal – A strong and well thought out Why.  My “why” (as you saw above) is health related.  But that needs to be more specific. So I listed the things that make up what healthy means to me.  Write down in detail the “why” for your goal.  
  2. What will your life be like if you reach your goals?  Imagine your life with your goal reached.  Get creative and specific.  Feel that feeling. Love that feeling.  See it in your mind – create a vision board – write a letter to yourself from your future self.  All of these things will help you achieve your goals.  And know that you’ll achieve those awesome feelings with some hard (but rewarding) work.
  3. What will your life be like if you DON’T achieve your goal?  This is really important.  You need to know what the pain point is and keep that in mind.  That will help you when your immediate want does not match your long term goal.  Your long term goal has to be greater than the pain you feel if you don’t achieve it or…You. Will. Fail.  More on this in future posts.
  4. How are you going to achieve your goal?  What action steps are needed?

This is the meat and potatoes of the 100 Day Challenge.  You need to know what specifically you need to do to reach your goal.  Write down everything you can think of for your goal.  For example, my goal is going to be a multi-action process.  I know for research that in order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you take in.  It’s a simple (but challenging) formula.  But I also know that my goal is tied into my health.  So I want to achieve this weight loss in the healthiest way possible.  So I need to write all of that down. Here are some examples of my actions: record my meals (calories) and make sure that I am in a healthy deficit.  Move a certain amount each day.  Eat whole and nutritious foods (not junk). Etc.  

Use our resources to start writing down your action steps.  Also note if the actions are something you need to do daily / weekly / multiple times per day?  In the next blog, I’ll show you my system for keeping track and staying on track during the process.

Today’s Homework

Determine your goal(s) and write them down.

What actions are needed to achieve your goals in 100 days? Write them down.

Want more?  

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or John Garey TV to watch my new video series.  Here is the first episode:  John Garey 100 Day Challenge, Episode 1.

Follow me on instagram for daily posts about my journey, behind the scenes peeks, and more extras

Next Blog Post

Measuring your actions to make sure you’re on track to reach your goal

Resources  

These are resources we’ve created for you and some of my favorite resources on goal setting.

100 Day Challenge Habit Checklist Planner and Questionnaire

100 Day Challenge Action Plan and Log Journal

Goal Setting Toolkit: Why Behavior Change Often Fails & How to Set the Right Goals for You

(I LOVE Mel Robbins, and this podcast is pure gold.  Check it out to help you zero in on your goals for our 100 day challenge)

Goal Setting Tutorials on JGTV – I created a number of tutorials to help you better understand goal setting.  Dive in.

See you next time.  I’m so excited to work together to achieve our goals.

– John Garey