Plan and track your goals with Healthy Habits Worksheets. Set realistic goals and build up to them using small habits that you track daily, weekly, and monthly. Customize the worksheets however you choose. Here’s how to use them for success.
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I once heard someone say that reaching your goals is not always fun. That you won’t love your journey every single day.
The only things that will help you reach your goals and be the person you want to be are hard work, dedication, and healthy habits.
Everyone has a vision of who they want to be. Many of us want to be financially stable, go to the gym to become healthier, become more successful in our jobs, or train consistently to be stronger both physically and mentally.
But do you ever feel like life gets in the way of the goals you have for yourself?
You’re not alone.
“People make the mistake of making these big goals…that often backfire…because they’re so big, they’re so distant, and they require a million little steps in-between,” says Harvard Psychologist Amy Cuddy. “Each of those steps is an opportunity to fail, and they’re very much outcome-focused.”
Starting small and tracking your habits can be a great way to reach your goals, especially in fitness.
Radical Strength has created a foolproof way to reach your goals when you use our Healthy Habits Worksheet.
People make the mistake of making these big goals...that often backfire...because they’re so big, they’re so distant, and they require a million little steps in-between. Each of those steps is an opportunity to fail, and they’re very much outcome-focused.
How To Use Healthy Habits Worksheets to Track Your Goals
In the Healthy Habits Worksheet, you will find several ways to track your goals. These ways include a workout tracker, strength training log, monthly goals, weekly goals, and daily goals. Keeping track of your training is a great way to reach your goals and track your progress.
Step By Step For Workout Tracker
- When using the workout tracking calendar, print off as many as you want and place them somewhere you have to see them.
- Color coordinate the boxes at the bottom of your page that says strength, cardio, and rest or active rest.
- When you do an activity on a given day, color in the box with the color you chose for that activity.
- You can split the days in half with various colors if you did more than one activity that day!
Step By Step For Strength Training Sheet
- On the left-hand side, under the “ lift section,” fill in which lifts you are doing for that day.
- To the right of the lifts section, fill out how many reps you are doing.
- Your reps and sets will depend on the exercise you are doing.
- In the notes section, record how well you slept, what you ate, and how you feel after your workout.
- These notes can be an excellent item to look back on if you had a good or bad workout.
Month, Week Day Goals Sheet
- Record your goals for that month, week, or day.
- Having them written out can help keep you focused on that specific goal and can keep you accountable.
- Try crossing out your goals when you have achieved them.
- If you want, color-coordinate your goals on these sheets by what the goal is.
- For example: if you have a training goal, use a green pen; if you have a mental health goal, use pink, and if you have a health goal involving food, use orange!
Why Accountability Helps You Reach Your Goals
Most people avoid accountability. When we avoid being accountable, we are deciding not to do something.
But guess what?
Accountability works.
A study done by the Association for Talent Development shows that publicly committing to your goals gives you a 65% chance of completing them.
It also states that having an accountability partner increases your chance of reaching your goal by 30%. This means that by having someone know your goal, you have a 95% chance of achieving it.
Those seem like pretty good odds to me!
When you hold yourself accountable, you are committing to a goal you have. When you prioritize that goal by saying it out loud, posting to your social media, or telling someone else, you are building a foundation to succeed.
Healthy Habits to Start: Healthy Habits Checklist
- Drink at least 2 liters of water a day
- Sleep a minimum of 7 hours every night
- Eat whole foods
- Exercise four to five times a week
- Aim to get around 10,000 steps in a day
- Track your goals using the Healthy Habits Worksheet
- Take rest days
- Take your vitamins and supplements
- Meditate
- Go to therapy
- Stretch or do mobility work/yoga daily
Forming healthy habits can seem like a daunting task. For many of us, we already have habits created, whether those habits are good or bad.
Your morning cup of coffee or eating lunch at a particular time every day are great examples of habits you probably already have in place.
Stacking another habit on top of those can be a great way to implement a new habit. (This technique is called habit stacking and you can learn more about it in Rachel’s interview with MyFitnessPal)
For example: adding a one-minute writing session in a gratitude journal while drinking your morning coffee can lead to happiness and appreciation over time.
Humans tend to make things more complicated than necessary. When it comes to weight loss, people use skinny teas and fad diets as an “easy fix,” with habits; the tendency to overcomplicate is similar.
Studies show that habit formation is relatively simple. The easiest way to form new habits is to repeat an action in the same context consistently. Challenge yourself to develop new healthy habits!
The easiest way to form new habits is to repeat an action in the same context consistently.
Healthy Habits Challenge: Tips for Success
1. Place Your Healthy Habits Worksheet Where You Can See It
Keeping your worksheet somewhere you always look, such as your refrigerator, desk, or even on your phone, can help you keep your fitness goals at the forefront (literally).
Having a notebook or notes on my phone that I always bring to the gym is a constant reminder of the task at hand.
In middle school, I wrote notes on my hand so I wouldn’t forget them. Although I don’t suggest doing this with your worksheet, you get the idea.
2. Share Your Progress
Although I try to take a break from social media platforms often, many people use Instagram and Facebook as ways to hold themselves accountable.
Many fitness YouTubers state that when they started their fitness journey, they used social media as a platform to keep track of their progress. Showing other people your fitness journey online can be a way of having several accountability partners. (We’d love to see your progress. Tag @radical_strength_with_rach on Instagram.)
3. Start Small
If you had the idea to climb Mount Everest in 2021 but had never hiked a day in your life, you wouldn’t fly to Nepal the next day—you would start small.
One of the best pieces of advice I have ever gotten is to take things one day at a time. So, if you want to run a marathon, start by running 1 mile.
4. Reward Yourself
Rewarding myself, especially with food, used to be a huge no-no for me.
Creating healthy ways to reward yourself can be a great incentive to keep going. For example, I often reward myself with alone time to do whatever I want.
I love being around people but find myself becoming worn down.
So, I give myself an hour or two to be by myself with no distractions—this is an excellent opportunity to find what works for you!
Creating and achieving goals is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself.
If you get off track, don’t use it as an excuse to throw in the towel.
Start small, celebrate the little victories, and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Madison Freeman
I am a journalist and freelance writer working towards my personal training certification with a keen eye for good stories. I think strength training is the best form of therapy and I never turn down a good piece of cake.
The one thing that has changed my life is having a daily schedule. I have a mental illness, so it’s nice to have a routine to go by. I get up at 6:00 a.m. and go to bed at 10:00 p.m. every day. In between, I have time set aside for hygiene, exercise, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, projects, errands, internet, medication, and meditation. My meditation hour is at night and that is when I wind down, document the day, think about things that went well, my thoughts and feelings, etc. It’s my alone time with God. I have been doing… Read more »
I have a very similar routine that helps me as well. Meditation is fantastic, I don’t do that enough! Thank you for your comments and wise insight 🙂
My brother once shared this quote with me, “An unwritten goal is merely a wish.”
Very wise!