You could leave it up to chance. Or, you could take ownership of your goal to be stronger/leaner/healthier/insertgoalhere. You could treat your health and fitness goals like you do all of the other meaningful events and priorities in your life, (birthdays, holidays, work deadlines, Sunday brunch), and make a plan to guarantee your success.

The 10 Step Strategy to Guarantee a Healthier Week

This ten-step strategy doesn’t take much time to accomplish, but it gives back ten-fold. Guarantee a healthier week by following this process in the steps below…a process I follow 52 weeks a year!

Have a Weekly Goal.

What can you commit to this week? What goal feels more important to you than the comfort and simplicity of habit?

Every Sunday, spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on your fitness and health related goals. What matters to you? In 3 months or in 3 years, what will you be happy about that you started today?

Take Action: Find space at the top or side of your calendar or daily planner to write your goal. Give yourself a reminder, every single day, WHY you want what you want.

Once you know what that underlying, butterflies in your belly goal is, decide what you can focus on this week that will contribute to your goal. Actions speak louder than words.

Break Your Goal Down Into Daily Actions

Goals set your commitment level. Actions make success happen.

Take a look at the goal you set for yourself. What actions can you take on a daily basis to get you one step closer to that goal? Ask yourself…

• Can I commit to achieving that action every single day?
• Can I see the connection between my action and my goal?

If you can answer “yes” to both of those questions, then you should include that action in your daily plan.

For example: Say your goal is to lose 10 pounds because your know that you will feel healthier, you will fit into your clothes better and you’ll feel more comfortable signing up for the 15-mile walk to raise money for breast cancer that your best friend wants you to commit to with her.

To guarantee a healthier week, you can’t just think about it. You can’t just hope it happens! What daily actions can you take to get you closer and closer to your goal?

You could:

• Walk 10,000 steps every day to start training.
• Drink 80-100 ounces of water every day so that you are well-hydrated and full in between meals.
• Stretch for 15 minutes.
• Take your dog for 2, 20-minute walk/jogs.

Here’s what this looks like for me:

I make a table with enough room for each day of the week, and 4-6 daily actions I want to take that relate to my goals.

*p.s. I get a lot of questions about this planner that I use to schedule my weeks and track my goals…I use a Passion Planner and I am obsessed with it! Its just the right amount of space, motivation and fun for an incredibly Type A girl like me!! Click the banner below for a discount on your first order!

Track Your Daily Success

If you want to move the mountain, you start with a single stone.

Every time you complete a task/action/focus throughout the day, track it. Celebrate the small wins!

The small successes that you can achieve multiple times a day are big time motivators! You get to feel a sense of accomplishment when you can check the box and recognize that you took that step closer to your goal.

Consistent action promotes small changes that fit seamlessly into your life. In time, those changes add up to result in a huge transformation. On top of that, you collect data: what worked? What felt easy? What felt like a larger obstacle than you expected it to be?

Plan Your Workouts

Don’t leave your fitness goals up to chance! If you ever feel tired, stressed, busy, anxious (it’s a club!)…don’t leave your workout up to “feeling it” or not. Plan your workouts. Just as you would any other important event or task in your life, make time in your schedule to get your sweat on.

Planning your workouts is a multi-step process.

Step 1. What do you want to achieve? If you want to lose fat, your workouts should revolve around fat loss. If you want to build muscle, your workouts should include resistance training.

Step 2. What do you have time for? Decide what makes the most sense for your life. If you have time for 4, 60-minute workouts every week, great! Build that plan. If you know that 60-minute workout aren’t a reality for you right now, don’t set yourself up for failure by planning them anyways. 5-6, 30-45 minute workouts each week will still get you results!

Step 3. Build your workouts into your week as they make sense. If, like me, you usually have a few stacked days during the week (back to back calls and appointments), don’t schedule a workout that day! Find the time. I promise you, when you stare at a daily planner for long enough, you begin to realize just how much time a 24-hour day actually has if you use your time right.

Track Your Workouts

I am 100% that gym-nerd who walks around the gym floor with a pen and notebook, tracking each rep, weight and knee twinge. I started tracking my workouts religiously years ago, and I haven’t stopped since.

Why?

Because I was tired of staying stuck in the same spot, lifting the same weights and seeing the same lack of results. I struggled to get stronger! I wanted to see muscle! I wanted to see my hard work!

Tracking your workouts helps you a) stick to a schedule, b) make sure that you are balancing work days with recovery, and c) challenge yourself with each workout.

>> Read more: Using a Workout Journal to Reach Your Goals

Re-Prioritize Your Health

You might look at your day-to-day life and think “I don’t have time for this”, Babe, make time.

You need to make your health and your happiness a priority.

The fact is, even Michelle Obama realizes that without taking care of herself, she can’t take care of everyone else around her. If you don’t make choices that put your health first, your health won’t stick around. As a result, what will your loved ones, your errand list, and the rest of your current priorities be left with?

Schedule “Turn it off” Time

You’ve got an appointment at 7 am. A breakfast meeting at 9. You’re working straight through until 5 pm and then you’ve got the gym, the grocery store, dinner and you have to call your mom.

And then you have to turn it off.

You have to give your brain a break from the constant jumble of screen time, blue light, anxieties, worries and plans. Part of the process to guarantee a healthier week is shutting off the every-ready bunny in your brain that believe always “doing” is the key to productivity and success.

Sleep is a g.a.m.e.c.h.a.n.g.e.r. when it comes to your physique and fitness goals. But most of us don’t sleep enough, or soundly enough, to reap the benefits of REM and recovery. Part of the reason we don’t get enough sound sleep: we never turn it off.

Pick a time, 2-3 hours before you plan on your head hitting the pillow, and turn off your phone, turn off the TV and turn off the computer. Develop a nightly ritual that puts you at ease and gets your brain and body ready for bed.

My suggestions:

• Do a puzzle.
• Work on a crossword.
• Read a book.
• Write in a journal.
• Play a game with your family.
• Take a bath.
• Meditate or practice yoga.
• Play music.

You don’t have to completely shut down right after dinner, but plan to put your phone (and social media, email, Amazon and FB), away around 8-9 pm. Your brain will get the signal.

Pre-plan a Reward

Having something to look forward to can give you an edge on the days that you are feeling a complete lack of motivation, and really help you guarantee a healthier week. At the beginning of the week, plan to reward yourself in some small way should you hit your goals for the week.

*Important side note: choose a reward that won’t derail your goals or progress. In fact, try to think of a reward that will benefit your health and goals!

Reward Ideas:

• a new pair of running shoes
• purchase a yoga, running or nutrition app that you’ve been reading about
• buy a new, waterproof phone case
• subscribe to a Spotify or SiriusXM membership
• book a session with a personal trainer or nutrition coach
• get a pedicure

Start Each Day with Gratitude

My favorite way to start each day on the right side of the bed is to spend 5 minutes writing in my gratitude journal. Before coffee, before social media, before classes and emails and work, I grab a pen and my favorite moleskin and I dive into what I’m feeling grateful for.

Some days I’m simply grateful for the sunshine. Other days I’m grateful for the previous evening spent with my loved ones. Big or small, starting your day with gratitude is the perfect way to realize how much you have to be thankful for.

Keep a Notebook at Your Bedside

Why is it that your brain thinks that the best time to re-assess every bad decision you’ve ever made and worry about every must-do that you’ve been putting off, is when your head hits the pillow? That’s not just me, right?

Keep a notebook by your bedside. When something pops into your head, make a note and remind yourself that it can wait until tomorrow. Let it pass. Then, clear your mind so that you can fall asleep knowing you’ve done what you can, and you can carry on tomorrow.