Season 5, Episode 4: How do I set goals I’ll actually keep?

Tania Huddart: Every year, at the beginning of the year, I sit down and think about what it is I want to achieve that year. And then I plan for it. Then I look further out. Because sometimes what I want to do will take two years. And that's fine. It just needs a different plan.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Teach Pilates with Confidence and Pilates & Purpose. Both voices you'll hear are made with AI. Every word Tania says is her own, and she's approved each one.

Last episode was about your energy, and choosing your three priorities. This one takes those priorities and turns them into goals. How do I set goals I'll actually keep?

Tania Huddart: By setting fewer of them, by making sure they're really yours, and by being honest about what will get in the way. That's most of it.

Host: Let's be honest. I write goals every January, and by March I can't remember what they were.

Tania Huddart: You're not alone. But I think most goals don't fail in March. They fail in January, when we write them. We write them too big, or too vague, or for someone we think we should be. And we write too many. Ten goals in January is the same as no goals by March.

That's why the goals chapter comes after your values, your why and your priorities. A goal that isn't tied to what you care about is just a nice idea with a date on it.

Host: So where do you start?

Tania Huddart: With the big picture. Picture your business in five years. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What part does it play in your community?

Then break that vision down into smaller goals. Maybe it's adding a new programme. Building your online presence. Doing more in your community. Clear goals, big and small, give that vision a direction. And ask yourself what steps you'll need to make each one real, and how your values will guide you along the way. Then choose one goal for this year, just one to start, and ask what steps will help you get there.

And it doesn't all have to be business. Go back to your Wheel of Life. The low slices are often where your best goals are hiding. More time with your family is a goal. So is a proper holiday. Your business goals and your life goals have to live in the same diary.

Host: And once you've got the big goal?

Tania Huddart: I like to use the reverse goal method. You look at the big goal, where you want to end up, and then you work backwards from there to build your plan.

So I think, well, to get there, I need these things in place. What needs to come first? How am I going to get to each of those steps? And once I've done that step, what's the most logical thing to move on to next?

Write each step down. Then put the first one in your diary this week. Because if it's in the diary, it gets done.

Host: That sounds like what you described last time with a new class. Breaking it into pieces.

Tania Huddart: It's the same idea, on a bigger scale. A year has a lot of pieces in it. If you only look at the top, it's overwhelming. If you start at the top and walk backwards, every step has a reason.

Host: The academy also uses SMART goals. And I have to say, that sounds a bit corporate for a Pilates teacher.

Tania Huddart: It can sound it. But it's really just five questions. There's a worksheet in the course with them on it.

Specific. What do I want to happen? Measurable. How will I know when I've achieved it? Attainable. Is it realistic, and how will I do it? Relevant. Why is this goal important to me? And timely. What's my deadline?

Write the answers down on the sheet. It sounds simple. But when you have to write down how you'll know you've got there, a lot of fuzzy goals get clear very quickly.

Host: Give me a Pilates example.

Tania Huddart: Say you want to grow your business by another ten per cent, or twenty per cent, because you're bringing somebody else on board. That's specific.

How will you measure it? Maybe by your income, or by the number of clients you need to bring in to keep that person busy. How attainable is it within the coming year? How realistic is it to grow that much? And when do you want it done? In three months? In six? Within twelve?

You might have smaller goals at different stages of the year, too. They can sit underneath the big one. And check each one against your three priorities. If it doesn't fit, it can wait.

Host: Which of the five do people skip?

Tania Huddart: The R is the one I'd never skip. Why is this goal important to me? If you can't answer that, the other four won't hold it up. That's where your values and your why come back in.

Host: You also say every goal needs a person next to it.

Tania Huddart: It does. Whether you use the reverse goal or the SMART template, you need to say who's responsible for making it happen.

Maybe you need help with a budget. So it might be you and your bookkeeper, or you and your accountant. Maybe the goal needs some funding. Then you'll need your bookkeeper, your accountant and your bank manager involved. Talk to an accountant where you live before you borrow for a goal. The rules are different everywhere.

And if it's you, say so. Write your own name down. A goal with no name next to it belongs to nobody.

Host: And what if I get to the end of a block and I haven't hit it?

Tania Huddart: Then you've learnt something. I set my goals at the start of the year, but I don't leave them in a drawer. Break the year into twelve-week blocks. At the end of each one, look back. What worked? What didn't? Was the goal attainable? Was the deadline too tight? Adjust it, and go again.

And celebrate what you did get done. Each milestone is a stepping stone. Stay curious, and stay open to change, but stay grounded in what you stand for. Missing a goal isn't failing. Not looking at why is the bit that costs you.

Host: Then there's the WOOP method, which has a wonderful name. For anyone who hasn't come across it, WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. It comes from the work of the psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, and it sits just after the productivity chapter in the academy.

Tania Huddart: It does. And I love it, because it's honest. A lot of goal-setting is all about the bright side. WOOP makes you look at the bit that's going to trip you up.

Host: Take me through it.

Tania Huddart: First, the wish. Something you'd really like, that's a stretch but possible. Then the outcome. Picture the best thing about getting there. Really let yourself see it, and feel it.

Then the obstacle. And this is the important part. Not the obstacles out in the world. The one inside you. A habit. A feeling. A fear. The thing you do that gets in your own way.

Then the plan. You make it an "if, then". If this happens, then I'll do that.

Host: Can you give me one?

Tania Huddart: You heard my one last episode. My wish was to have the books done without the dread. The outcome was feeling calm, and having my weekends back. The obstacle was me. I'd put it off, and get myself into a lather for a day or two beforehand.

So the plan was simple. If it's anything to do with accounting, it goes to my bookkeeper. That's my if, then.

Host: Doesn't thinking about the obstacle just make you feel worse?

Tania Huddart: It's not about being a pessimist. It's about being ready. When you've already decided what you'll do when the obstacle turns up, you don't have to decide in the moment. In the moment is when we make our worst decisions. Usually tired, usually late at night.

And it doesn't take long. You can do it in a few minutes, on the back of an envelope. You can do one for your year, or for a single week.

It works well with the timer from last episode, too. If my obstacle is getting distracted, then the plan is twenty-five minutes, with my phone in another room.

Host: So let me see if I've got it. The big goal, worked backwards. Five questions to sharpen it. A name next to it. And a plan for the thing inside you that gets in the way. Three things to take away?

Tania Huddart: One. Start with the big goal, and work backwards. Every step should have a reason.

Two. Make it specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. And never skip the relevant. Why does this matter to you?

Three. Name the obstacle inside you, and decide now what you'll do when it shows up.

Host: And the question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: Think of one goal you've set before and let go of. What actually got in the way? And was it out there, or was it you?

Host: Everything we talked about today is Chapters 7 and 10 of Tania's Pilatespreneur Academy: Goals and Objectives, and the WOOP Method. You'll find it at taniahuddart.com slash academy.

Next episode, we start looking outwards. What picture am I painting, and who is it for?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: Keep your goals few, and keep them yours. Then be kind to yourself when the obstacle shows up. It will. That's why you planned for it.