Tag: life goals

Motivation

Why I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions

Miranda

NYE Post

Happy New Year!

It’s day 2 of 2016 and you have probably already made some resolutions for the rest of the year.

But will you stick to them? And are resolutions really useful?

Personally, I don’t believe NY resolutions really work – they’re more like a tradition which people follow blindly and forget about the minute they return to their daily routine.

However, setting yourself certain  goals and objectives is definitely a must if you want to achieve something, not only this year but in life.

So here’s a better way of doing this: create a 10-year vision. Yes, 10 years is a long time, but as we all know time flies so we need to get crackin’.

A year ago I attended a vision-setting workshop (you can do it online here) by Lululemon Athletica where we learned how setting visions and goals can help you create and seize possibilities.

Possibilities Quote

Here are a few tips to help get you started on your 10-year vision:

  • Write down what you want to achieve on a personal, professional and health level. Then write down what you do NOT want. Don’t feel bad about not reaching all of your goals, just write everything down. Check out Susanne Conrad’s goals here as an example of what the end result of this exercise will look like.
  • When writing those goals don’t be afraid to be audacious – it’s OK to fail 50% of the time (as long as you learn from your mistakes!).
  • Once you are clear on what you do and do not want in your life, start with a 10-year plan. Jot down in a couple of bullet points what you would like to have achieved in 10 years in your career, health and personal life. Here’s a template to guide you:
Lululemon Vision & Goals Worksheet
You can download this template from the Lululemon site here
  • Then, based on these goals, write down what you need to achieve in 5 years’ time and then in 1 year’s time. Breaking your bigger goals into smaller once will help you stay on track.
  • Now for the tough part – writing your vision. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Write your vision as a story – see it, feel it, hear it, smell it. Don’t hold back. Be true to yourself. Be specific.

Writing your vision may take a bit of time – don’t worry. Just close your eyes and imagine where would you be 10 years from now?  Here’s a video from Susanne Conrad, Director of Possibility & renowned leadership and communication advisor:

Good luck!

WW

Motivation

Are you ready for 2016? A new chapter & a new contributor coming up!

Miranda

Over the past 6 months I have tried to use this blog as a platform to educate and inspire. Many people have asked the why’s and how’s of healthy living and since I enjoy reading about wellbeing I gathered information and brought to you what in my opinion was key for successfully managing your health.

There have been ups & downs, quiet periods (when life gets too busy) and active periods (when blogging once a week just wasn’t enough). There have been changes in the look and feel and format of the blog.

And yet there are more changes on the way! I’m working on rebranding the blog for next year and adding some more cool visuals. But we don’t have to wait for 2016 to see some exciting new things on Inspired by Miranda.

2016

As the date has been set for my first ever fitness model competition (26th March in case you were wondering), you can expect to see more stories from my journey to the stage – the workouts, the foods, the mental prep.

And what better way to learn about fitness competing than giving you an insight from someone with a lot of experience (and I’m talking about 11 years of personal training) and knowledge – my own coach!

Please join me in welcoming our new contributor – Adrianna McDonald.

Adrianna
See Adrianna in action on her Facebook page here

Adrianna is the perfect embodiment of what this blog stands for: with two kids and an impressive 7 competitions under her belt she knows what dedication, inspiration and empowerment stand for.

Here’s a little bit of her story:

I have always been involved in fitness […]. However, after the birth of my second child and moving swiftly through my 30’s I actually felt a void in achievement. Those around me had their weekly passions – cycling, running, golf, etc., but physical perfection appealed to me the most, purely because of the discipline you got to have.

I did not just want to be another Personal Trainer setting client goals – I wanted to set my own goals through body sculpture especially after having the bodily challenges of childbirth. I wanted to get my body in the best shape possible through what I love doing so I went down the path of actively training to compete.

Those first focused training sessions started 3 years ago. There may not have been blood, but with plenty of sweat and tears I have achieved more that I first thought possible.

Now that is truly a person who lives by the motto: “No excuses!”

759b38eee2f8f06cb80ec0d139f7eb59

I am truly very happy and excited to have Adrianna on board and you can expect to read some of her posts soon!

Motivation

3 Tips to Help You Stay Consistent and Achieve Success

Miranda

There are many ingredients in the recipe for success – drive, determination, opportunity, perseverance, creativity, courage, strength, passion and more. However, we often overlook one key characteristic – consistency. Without that no great success has been achieved.

Of course, there are the rare cases of overnight success, but even those stories have had some background work done.

Take for example artists. They are talented people, yet they still need to work on refining their skills. They also need to work on building their name or brand within their industry to achieve recognition and support (which are important parts of success).  Athletes are another example. To succeed in any sport or fitness endeavour you need to put in the necessary hours of hard work consistently. As they say – “practice makes perfect.”

So you may be passionate about what you do and determined to succeed but if you’re not consistent you will not go very far. But why wouldn’t you be consistent if you are passionate and determined? Well because life will be throwing challenges your way and there will be days when all the passion in the world won’t feel like it’s enough to get you out of bed.

Insta Capture

This is where consistency comes in. When you feel down, stuck in a rut or facing a particularly tricky obstacle your will and determination may falter. And that’s OK because everyone has a bad day (or days in some cases 🙂 ). The important thing is how to get through those tough moments.

From my experience, there are 3 things that you need to nail down to remain consistent:

  1. Find a meaningful reason to drive your success and repeat it to yourself often. Why do you want to succeed? What is it about achieving your goal that is important? What will you gain from the experience? These are some of the questions that can help your search for a meaningful reason to fuel or drive. Once you have found your cause, repeat it to yourself during those rough times – write it down, stick it near your bed or on your computer and read it back to yourself. Tip: make sure that reason is long term and is truly important to you.
  2. Make a plan and focus on one thing at a time. Successful people don’t multi-task. In fact, research has proven that multi-tasking slows you down and increases the chances of errors. Pick one goal at a time and figure out how you will achieve it. Break the bigger objective into smaller tasks and set yourself deadlines as to when each step should be completed.
  3. Don’t confuse consistency with burnout. You do need to have a plan and schedule as to how you will achieve your goal and that needs to be followed. But you also need to fit in time for rest and destress – be it within your schedule or on a more flexible basis. Of course, you need to push yourself but you need to know when to take a break as well – there is a difference between being lazy and being exhausted! To help you decide when you need to take a break it may be helpful to create a decision tree like the one below:

Good luck & stay focused!